The Greatest M's of All
After reading the Seattle Times' all-time Seahawks team, I couldn't help but wonder: who would make the all-time Seattle Mariners team? Here's what I came up with.
1B Alvin Davis (1984-1991). A.D. is the career leader in virtually every offensive category among Mariner first baseman. With a career average of .281 plus 160 HR, Davis was Seattle's first true star-caliber player.
2B Bret Boone (1992-93, 2001-05). With due respect to Harold Reynolds, Boone gets the nod here. Boone pretty much did everything, batting .277, popping 143 dingers, and playing exceptional defense up the middle during his days in a Mariner uniform.
SS Alex Rodriguez (1994-2000). Perhaps the greatest hitting SS of all time, A-Rod was (and continues to be) a superb five tool player. The numbers don't lie; during his time in Seattle, Alex boasted a .309 batting average, 189 HR, 595 RBI, 133 SB, and an OPS of .934.
3B Jim Presley (1984-1989). The all-star ranks 7th in HR (115), 8th in RBI (418), and 9th in games played (799) among Mariner career leaders.
OF Ken Griffey Jr (1989-1999). For more than a decade, the M's all-time HR leader (398) electrified M's fans with heroics at the plate and circus catches in the outfield. Junior won the MVP in 1997 (the first Mariner ever to do so), batting .304, jacking 56 HR, and driving in 147 runs.
OF Ichiro Suzuki (2001-present). Ichiro's .332 career batting average is 20 points higher than any other player in club history. Ichiro is just the 2nd Mariner to win the MVP, and has won a gold glove in each of his 5 seasons with the team.
OF Jay Buhner (1988-2001). The bald head. The cannon arm. The all-or-nothing approach at the plate. Bone was a fan favorite in Seattle for a lot of years. A pure power hitter, Buhner ranks 3rd on the M's career list in HR (307) and 1st in stikeouts (1375).
DH Edgar Martinez (1987-2004). A gentleman on and off the field, Edgar is the M's career leader in games played (2055), hits (2247), at-bats (7213), and runs (1219). He will forever be remembered for his post-season heroics against the Yankees in the 1995 ALDS. After winning game 4 with a grand slam, Edgar's game 5 winning hit that scored Joey Cora and Griffey is the most memorable play in club history.
SP Randy Johnson (1989-1998). Randy's numbers with the M's (130 W's, 2162 K's, and 3.42 ERA) are money by any standard. And nobody will ever forget his performance against the Angels to put the Mariners into the playoffs in 1995. Most impressively, the Big Unit has gone on to double the numbers he put up in Seattle and drop his career ERA to 3.11 since the club traded him away halfway through the 1998 season.
SP Jamie Moyer (1996-present). Moyer leads all Mariners in career games started (298) and wins (139). He's won at least 20 games twice (2001 & 2003) and at 43, continues to find a way to get hitters out with his nasty change-up.
SP Mark Langston (1984-1989). The left-hander gets the nod over Freddy Garcia, who put up comprable numbers to Langston's 74 W's and 4.01 ERA. Langston was a more dominant pitcher than Garcia, as evidenced by his 1078 K's (compared to Garcia's 819).
RP Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001-2004). With a huge smile and one of the nastiest splitters ever, Kaz tallied 129 saves as a Mariner, the most of any player in team history. His ERA (3.14) is second-best among Seattle closers with more than 50 saves.
1B Alvin Davis (1984-1991). A.D. is the career leader in virtually every offensive category among Mariner first baseman. With a career average of .281 plus 160 HR, Davis was Seattle's first true star-caliber player.
2B Bret Boone (1992-93, 2001-05). With due respect to Harold Reynolds, Boone gets the nod here. Boone pretty much did everything, batting .277, popping 143 dingers, and playing exceptional defense up the middle during his days in a Mariner uniform.
SS Alex Rodriguez (1994-2000). Perhaps the greatest hitting SS of all time, A-Rod was (and continues to be) a superb five tool player. The numbers don't lie; during his time in Seattle, Alex boasted a .309 batting average, 189 HR, 595 RBI, 133 SB, and an OPS of .934.
3B Jim Presley (1984-1989). The all-star ranks 7th in HR (115), 8th in RBI (418), and 9th in games played (799) among Mariner career leaders.
OF Ken Griffey Jr (1989-1999). For more than a decade, the M's all-time HR leader (398) electrified M's fans with heroics at the plate and circus catches in the outfield. Junior won the MVP in 1997 (the first Mariner ever to do so), batting .304, jacking 56 HR, and driving in 147 runs.
OF Ichiro Suzuki (2001-present). Ichiro's .332 career batting average is 20 points higher than any other player in club history. Ichiro is just the 2nd Mariner to win the MVP, and has won a gold glove in each of his 5 seasons with the team.
OF Jay Buhner (1988-2001). The bald head. The cannon arm. The all-or-nothing approach at the plate. Bone was a fan favorite in Seattle for a lot of years. A pure power hitter, Buhner ranks 3rd on the M's career list in HR (307) and 1st in stikeouts (1375).
DH Edgar Martinez (1987-2004). A gentleman on and off the field, Edgar is the M's career leader in games played (2055), hits (2247), at-bats (7213), and runs (1219). He will forever be remembered for his post-season heroics against the Yankees in the 1995 ALDS. After winning game 4 with a grand slam, Edgar's game 5 winning hit that scored Joey Cora and Griffey is the most memorable play in club history.
SP Randy Johnson (1989-1998). Randy's numbers with the M's (130 W's, 2162 K's, and 3.42 ERA) are money by any standard. And nobody will ever forget his performance against the Angels to put the Mariners into the playoffs in 1995. Most impressively, the Big Unit has gone on to double the numbers he put up in Seattle and drop his career ERA to 3.11 since the club traded him away halfway through the 1998 season.
SP Jamie Moyer (1996-present). Moyer leads all Mariners in career games started (298) and wins (139). He's won at least 20 games twice (2001 & 2003) and at 43, continues to find a way to get hitters out with his nasty change-up.
SP Mark Langston (1984-1989). The left-hander gets the nod over Freddy Garcia, who put up comprable numbers to Langston's 74 W's and 4.01 ERA. Langston was a more dominant pitcher than Garcia, as evidenced by his 1078 K's (compared to Garcia's 819).
RP Kazuhiro Sasaki (2001-2004). With a huge smile and one of the nastiest splitters ever, Kaz tallied 129 saves as a Mariner, the most of any player in team history. His ERA (3.14) is second-best among Seattle closers with more than 50 saves.
posted by Small Fish at 10:40 PM
2 Comments:
How did I forget Balboni???
I actually considered Digger Phelps...for about 2 seconds.
And honestly, it was tough to leave Al Cowens, Bob Kearney, and Gaylord Perry off the list. But hey, you can only have so many Greatest M's of All.
Kyle - the criteria was based solely on what they did while they were in Seattle, not what they did elsewhere.
It's true this lineup doesn't compare to the all-time Yankess or Red Sox clubs. It would be more fair to compare it to teams with a similar/slightly older age--the Blue Jays, Padres, or Brewers. I'm guessing a top 5 of Ichiro, Boone, A-Rod, Griffey, and Edgar would stack up very nicely with any of those clubs.
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