1989 Seattle Mariners season

Major League Baseball team season

1989 Seattle Mariners

League| American League
Division| West
Ballpark| Kingdome
City| Seattle, Washington
Record| 73–89 (.451)
Divisional place| 6th
Owners| George Argyros
Jeff Smulyan (August)
General managers| Woody Woodward
Managers| Jim Lefebvre
Television| KSTW-TV 11
Radio| KIRO 710 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs,
Joe Simpson)
| <- 1988 | Seasons | 1990 ->

|
|

The 1989 Seattle Mariners season was their 13th since the franchise creation, and the team finished sixth in the American League West, with a record of 73–89 (.451). The Mariners were led by first-year manager Jim Lefebvre and the season was enlivened by the arrival of nineteen-year-old Ken Griffey Jr., the first overall pick of the 1987 draft.

## Offseason

[edit]

* November 15, 1988: Luis DeLeón was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.[1]
* In spring training, Ken Griffey Jr. set preseason team records for hits (32), RBIs (20) and total bases (49).[2]

## Regular season

[edit]

* Ken Griffey Jr. made his major league baseball debut on opening day, April 3, against the defending American League champion Oakland Athletics.[3][4] Griffey hit a double in his first at-bat.[2][3] During the 1989 season, Griffey was honored by being selected as card number one in the 1989 Upper Deck baseball card set.[2]
* The Mariners had the lowest payroll in the majors in 1989, at $7.6 million.[5]
* Owner George Argyros sold the team in August to a group headed by Indianapolis communications magnate Jeff Smulyan.[6][7][8]

### Season standings

[edit]

* v
* t
* e

AL West Team  | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road

|
|
|
|
|
|

Oakland Athletics | 99 | 63  | .611  | —  | 54‍–‍27  | 45‍–‍36
Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70  | .568  | 7  | 55‍–‍26  | 37‍–‍44
California Angels | 91 | 71  | .562  | 8  | 52‍–‍29  | 39‍–‍42
Texas Rangers | 83 | 79  | .512  | 16  | 45‍–‍36  | 38‍–‍43
Minnesota Twins | 80 | 82  | .494  | 19  | 45‍–‍36  | 35‍–‍46
Seattle Mariners | 73 | 89  | .451  | 26  | 40‍–‍41  | 33‍–‍48
Chicago White Sox | 69 | 92  | .429  | 29½  | 35‍–‍45  | 34‍–‍47

### Record vs. opponents

[edit]

1989 American League record

* v
* t
* e

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

Team  | BAL  | BOS  | CAL  | CWS  | CLE  | DET  | KC  | MIL  | MIN  | NYY  | OAK  | SEA  | TEX  | TOR
Baltimore | — | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 9–3 | 7–6
Boston | 7–6 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–6 | 5–8
California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 4–9 | 7–5 | 11–2 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 7–5
Chicago | 6–6 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 7–5 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 5–8 | 5–6 | 5–8 | 7–6 | 3–10 | 1–11
Cleveland | 6–7 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 5–7 | — | 5–8 | 8–4 | 3–10 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 2–10 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 5–8
Detroit | 3–10 | 2–11 | 1–11 | 8–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 4–8 | 2–11
Kansas City | 6–6 | 8–4 | 9–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 6–6 | — | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5
Milwaukee | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 10–3 | 7–6 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 6–7
Minnesota | 8–4 | 6–6 | 2–11 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 9–3
New York | 5–8 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 6–5 | 4–9 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 3–9 | 8–4 | 5–7 | 7–6
Oakland | 7–5 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 8–5 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 9–3 | — | 9–4 | 8–5 | 7–5
Seattle | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 8–4 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 | 4–8 | 4–9 | — | 6–7 | 5–7
Texas | 3–9 | 6–6 | 7–6 | 10–3 | 5–7 | 8–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–8 | 7–6 | — | 5–7
Toronto | 6–7 | 8–5 | 5–7 | 11–1 | 8–5 | 11–2 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–5 | 7–5 | —

### Notable transactions

[edit]

* March 27: Steve Balboni was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minors).[9]
* May 25: Mark Langston and a player to be named later were traded by the Mariners to the Montreal Expos for Randy Johnson, Brian Holman, and Gene Harris.[10][11] The Mariners completed the deal by sending Mike Campbell to the Expos on July 31.[12]
* June 5: Brian Turang was drafted by the Mariners in the 51st round of the 1989 amateur draft.[13]
* June 12: Steve Trout was released by the Mariners.[14]

### Major league debuts

[edit]

* Batters:
* Ken Griffey Jr. (Apr 3)
* Omar Vizquel (Apr 3)
* Pitchers:
* Gene Harris (Apr 5)
* Clint Zavaras (June 3) [15]

### Roster

[edit]

1989 Seattle Mariners

Roster
Pitchers

* 15 Scott Bankhead
* 27 Mike Campbell
* 34 Keith Comstock
* 52 Luis DeLeón
* 25 Mike Dunne
* 39 Erik Hanson
* 47 Gene Harris
* 36 Brian Holman
* 38 Mike Jackson
* 51 Randy Johnson
* 12 Mark Langston
* 49 Tom Niedenfuer
* 48 Dennis Powell
* 31 Jerry Reed
* 40 Mike Schooler
* 37 Julio Solano
* 18 Bill Swift
* 34 Steve Trout
* 41 Clint Zavaras

|  | Catchers

* 9 Scott Bradley
* 35 Bill McGuire
* 10 Dave Valle

Infielders

* 43 Dave Cochrane
* 21 Alvin Davis
* 23 Mario Díaz
* 11 Edgar Martínez
* 17 Jim Presley
* 51 Rey Quiñones
* 4 Harold Reynolds
* 42,13 Omar Vizquel

|  | Outfielders

* 8 Greg Briley
* 14 Mickey Brantley
* 19 Jay Buhner
* 2 Darnell Coles
* 28 Henry Cotto
* 29 Bruce Fields
* 24 Ken Griffey Jr.
* 7 Mike Kingery

Other Batters

* 00 Jeffrey Leonard
* 54 Jim Wilson

|  | Manager

* 5 Jim Lefebvre

Coaches

* 42 Gene Clines (hitting)
* 6 Bob Didier (bullpen)
* 22 Rusty Kuntz (first base)
* 20 Mike Paul (pitching)
* 3 Bill Plummer (third base)

## Player stats

[edit]

| = Indicates team leader

|

### Batting

[edit]

#### Starters by position

[edit]

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos  | Player  | G  | AB  | R  | H  | HR  | RBI  | Avg.  | SB

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

C | Dave Valle | 94 | 316 | 32 | 75 | 7 | 34 | .237 | 0
1B | Alvin Davis | 142 | 498 | 84 | 152 | 21 | 95 | .305 | 0
2B | Harold Reynolds | 153 | 613 | 87 | 184 | 0 | 43 | .300 | 25
3B | Jim Presley | 117 | 390 | 42 | 92 | 12 | 41 | .236 | 0
SS | Omar Vizquel | 143 | 387 | 45 | 85 | 1 | 20 | .220 | 1
LF | Greg Briley | 115 | 394 | 52 | 105 | 13 | 52 | .266 | 11
CF | Ken Griffey Jr. | 127 | 455 | 61 | 120 | 16 | 61 | .264 | 16
RF | Darnell Coles | 146 | 535 | 54 | 135 | 10 | 59 | .252 | 5
DH | Jeffrey Leonard | 150 | 566 | 69 | 144 | 24 | 93 | .254 | 6

Source[16]

#### Other batters

[edit]

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player  | G  | AB  | H  | Avg.  | HR  | RBI

|
|
|
|
|
|

Henry Cotto | 100 | 295 | 78 | .264 | 9 | 33
Scott Bradley | 103 | 270 | 74 | .274 | 3 | 37
Jay Buhner | 58 | 204 | 56 | .275 | 9 | 33
Edgar Martínez | 65 | 171 | 41 | .240 | 2 | 20
Mickey Brantley | 34 | 108 | 17 | .157 | 0 | 8
Dave Cochrane | 54 | 102 | 24 | .235 | 3 | 7
Mike Kingery | 31 | 76 | 17 | .224 | 2 | 6
Mario Díaz | 52 | 74 | 10 | .135 | 1 | 7
Bill McGuire | 14 | 28 | 5 | .179 | 1 | 4
Rey Quiñones | 7 | 19 | 2 | .105 | 0 | 0
Jim Wilson | 5 | 8 | 0 | .000 | 0 | 0
Bruce Fields | 3 | 3 | 1 | .333 | 0 | 0

### Pitching

[edit]

#### Starting pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Scott Bankhead | 33 | 210.1 | 14 | 6 | 3.34 | 140
Brian Holman | 23 | 159.2 | 8 | 10 | 3.44 | 82
Randy Johnson | 22 | 131.0 | 7 | 9 | 4.40 | 104
Erik Hanson | 17 | 113.1 | 9 | 5 | 3.18 | 75
Mike Dunne | 15 | 85.1 | 2 | 9 | 5.27 | 38
Mark Langston | 10 | 73.1 | 4 | 5 | 3.56 | 60
Clint Zavaras | 10 | 52.0 | 1 | 6 | 5.19 | 31
Luis DeLeón | 1 | 4.0 | 0 | 0 | 2.25 | 2

#### Other pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | IP  | W  | L  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Bill Swift | 37 | 130.0 | 7 | 3 | 4.43 | 45
Gene Harris | 10 | 33.1 | 1 | 4 | 6.48 | 14
Mike Campbell | 5 | 21.0 | 1 | 2 | 7.29 | 6

#### Relief pitchers

[edit]

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player  | G  | W  | L  | SV  | ERA  | SO

|
|
|
|
|
|

Mike Schooler | 67 | 1 | 7 | 33 | 2.81 | 69
Mike Jackson | 65 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 3.17 | 94
Jerry Reed | 52 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 3.19 | 50
Dennis Powell | 43 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5.00 | 27
Keith Comstock | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.81 | 22
Tom Niedenfuer | 25 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6.69 | 15
Steve Trout | 19 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 6.60 | 17
Julio Solano | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5.59 | 6

## Farm system

[edit]

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level  | Team  | League  | Manager

|
|
|

AAA | Calgary Cannons | Pacific Coast League | Rich Morales
AA | Williamsport Bills | Eastern League | Jay Ward
A | San Bernardino Spirit | California League | Ralph Dick
A | Wausau Timbers | Midwest League | Tommy Jones
A-Short Season | Bellingham Mariners | Northwest League | P. J. Carey
Rookie | AZL Mariners | Arizona League | Dave Myers

Source:[17]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Luis DeLeón page at Baseball Reference
2. ^ a b c Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, p.167, Dave Jamieson, 2010, Atlantic Monthly Press, imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc., New York, ISBN 978-0-8021-1939-1
3. ^ a b "McGwire spoils M's opener, 3-2". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 4, 1993. p. C1.
4. ^ "Ken Griffey Jr. Stats".
5. ^ "Signing of O'Brien heralds loose purse string for M's". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 8, 1989. p. C1.
6. ^ Cour, Jim (August 23, 1989). "Can owners improve M's". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. p. C1.
7. ^ "M's sold but will stay at Seattle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. August 23, 1989. p. 1C.
8. ^ Kelley, Steve (August 24, 1989). "M's owners wear Letterman jackets". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). (Seattle Times). p. C1.
9. ^ Steve Balboni page at Baseball Reference
10. ^ "Mariners trade ace Langston to Expos". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. May 26, 1989. p. 4D.
11. ^ LaRue, Larry (May 26, 1989). "Mariners excited about pitchers they're getting". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). McClatchy News Service. p. B3.
12. ^ Mark Langston page at Baseball Reference
13. ^ Brian Turankg page at Baseball Reference
14. ^ Steve Trout page at Baseball Reference
15. ^ "The Baseball Cube - Research Site for Pro + College Stats + draft".
16. ^ "1989 Seattle Mariners Statistics and Roster - Baseball-Reference.com". Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
17. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

## External links

[edit]

* 1989 Seattle Mariners at Baseball Reference.com
* 1989 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com

* v
* t
* e

1989 MLB season by team

| AL East|

* Baltimore
* Boston
* Cleveland
* Detroit
* Milwaukee
* New York
* Toronto

|

AL West|

* California
* Chicago
* Kansas City
* Minnesota
* Oakland
* Seattle
* Texas

| NL East|

* Chicago
* Montréal
* New York
* Philadelphia
* Pittsburgh
* St. Louis

|

NL West|

* Atlanta
* Cincinnati
* Houston
* Los Angeles
* San Diego
* San Francisco

* 1989 MLB draft
* 1989 All-Star Game
* 1989 World Series

* v
* t
* e

Seattle Mariners

* Established in 1977
* Based in Seattle, Washington

Franchise|

* History
* Expansion
* Expansion draft
* Seasons
* Records
* No-hitters
* Players
* Managers
* General managers and owners
* Award winners and league leaders
* First-round draft picks
* Broadcasters
* Opening Day starting pitchers
* Minor league affiliates
* Team Hall of Fame
* Nintendo Fan Network

Ballparks|

* Kingdome
* T-Mobile Park

Spring training:|

* Tempe Diablo Stadium
* Peoria Sports Complex

Culture|

* Mariner Moose
* MS Relief
* "Refuse to Lose"
* "Sodo Mojo"
* Home run trident
* The Mitt

People|

* Dave Niehaus
* Mr. Mariner
* Tuba Man
* Peanut Man

Promotions|

* Buhner Buzz Night
* Turn Back the Clock
* Turn Ahead the Clock
* King's Court

Songs|

* "Louie Louie"
* "Kernkraft 400"
* "Can't Hold Us"

Film & TV|

* The Naked Gun
* Little Big League
* The Comrades of Summer

Lore|

* 1995 AL West tie-breaker game
* 1995 ALDS
* The Double
* 2000 ALDS
* 116 wins
* 2001 ALDS
* Félix Hernández's perfect game
* Wild Card Comeback
* 18 shutout innings

Key personnel|

* Owner: Baseball Club of Seattle, LP, represented by CEO John Stanton
* President: John Stanton
* President of baseball operations: Jerry Dipoto
* General manager: Justin Hollander
* Manager: Scott Servais

Retired numbers|

* 11
* 24
* 42

All-Star Games hosted (3)|

* 1979
* 2001
* 2023

American League
West Division titles (3)|

* 1995
* 1997
* 2001

Wild card berths (2)|

* 2000
* 2022

Minor league affiliates|

* Tacoma Rainiers (Triple-A)
* Arkansas Travelers (Double-A)
* Everett AquaSox (High-A)
* Modesto Nuts (Single-A)
* ACL Mariners (Rookie)
* DSL Mariners (Rookie)

Broadcasting|

| Television|

* Root Sports Northwest

|

Radio|

* ESPN-710
* Radio network affiliates

Broadcasters|

* Rick Rizzs
* Dave Sims
* Mike Blowers
* Aaron Goldsmith
* Alex Rivera (Spanish)

Seattle Mariners seasons

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1990s|

* 1990
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2000s|

* 2000
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2010s|

* 2010
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2020s|

* 2020
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