1991 Seattle Mariners season
Major League Baseball team season
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The 1991 Seattle Mariners season was the 15th since the franchise's creation. It was the first winning season in franchise history,[1] as the Mariners finished fifth in the American League West with a record of 83–79 (.512).[2] Home attendance at the Kingdome was the highest to date, exceeding 2.1 million.[3]
| 1991 Seattle Mariners | |
|---|---|
| League | American League |
| Division | West |
| Ballpark | Kingdome |
| City | Seattle, Washington |
| Record | 83–79 (.512) |
| Divisional place | 5th |
| Owner | Jeff Smulyan |
| General manager | Woody Woodward |
| Manager | Jim Lefebvre |
| Average attendance | 26,517 |
| Television | KSTW-TV 11 (Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Joe Simpson) KIRO-TV 7 (Greg Gumbel, Joe Simpson) |
| Radio | KIRO 710 AM (Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Joe Simpson) |
After the season, the contract of third-year manager Jim Lefebvre was not renewed despite his performance,[4][5] and he was succeeded by third-base coach Bill Plummer in 1992.[6][7]
This was the last full season under the ownership of Jeff Smulyan; the club was sold the following July.
Offseason
- November 25, 1990: Rich Amaral was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.[8]
Regular season
- July 18, 1991: Ken Griffey Jr. and Omar Vizquel each had five hits in one game at Milwaukee.[9][10]
- September 30: Nolan Ryan of the Texas Rangers struck out Tino Martinez of the M's for the 5,500th strikeout in his career.[11][12] Griffey, age 21, became the youngest player in 35 years to reach 100 RBI in a season.[11]
- October 4: The Mariners defeated the Chicago White Sox to win their 82nd game, guaranteeing with their first winning season in franchise history.
Season standings
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | 95 | 67 | .586 | — | 51–30 | 44–37 |
| Chicago White Sox | 87 | 75 | .537 | 8 | 46–35 | 41–40 |
| Texas Rangers | 85 | 77 | .525 | 10 | 46–35 | 39–42 |
| Oakland Athletics | 84 | 78 | .519 | 11 | 47–34 | 37–44 |
| Seattle Mariners | 83 | 79 | .512 | 12 | 45–36 | 38–43 |
| Kansas City Royals | 82 | 80 | .506 | 13 | 40–41 | 42–39 |
| California Angels | 81 | 81 | .500 | 14 | 40–41 | 41–40 |
Record vs. opponents
Sources: | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 8–5 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 4–8 | 3–10 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 3–9 | 4–8 | 9–3 | 5–8 |
| Boston | 5–8 | — | 4–8 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 5–8 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 3–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–7 | 9–4 |
| California | 6–6 | 8–4 | — | 8–5 | 7–5 | 5–7 | 9–4 | 6–6 | 8–5 | 6–6 | 1–12 | 6–7 | 5–8 | 6–6 |
| Chicago | 8–4 | 5–7 | 5–8 | — | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 8–5 | 7–5 |
| Cleveland | 6–7 | 4–9 | 5–7 | 6–6 | — | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 2–10 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 2–10 | 4–8 | 1–12 |
| Detroit | 8–5 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 6–7 | — | 8–4 | 4–9 | 4–8 | 8–5 | 4–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 5–8 |
| Kansas City | 8–4 | 5–7 | 4–9 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 4–8 | — | 9–3 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 6–7 | 7–6 | 7–6 | 5–7 |
| Milwaukee | 10–3 | 6–7 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 3–9 | — | 6–6 | 6–7 | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–5 | 6–7 |
| Minnesota | 8–4 | 9–3 | 5–8 | 5–8 | 10–2 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | — | 10–2 | 8–5 | 9–4 | 6–7 | 4–8 |
| New York | 8–5 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 4–8 | 7–6 | 5–8 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 2–10 | — | 6–6 | 3–9 | 5–7 | 6–7 |
| Oakland | 9–3 | 4–8 | 12–1 | 6–7 | 7–5 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 4–8 | 5–8 | 6–6 | — | 6–7 | 4–9 | 6–6 |
| Seattle | 8–4 | 3–9 | 7–6 | 6–7 | 10–2 | 4–8 | 6–7 | 9–3 | 4–9 | 9–3 | 7–6 | — | 5–8 | 5–7 |
| Texas | 3–9 | 7–5 | 8–5 | 5–8 | 8–4 | 6–6 | 6–7 | 5–7 | 7–6 | 7–5 | 9–4 | 8–5 | — | 6–6 |
| Toronto | 8–5 | 4–9 | 6–6 | 5–7 | 12–1 | 8–5 | 7–5 | 7–6 | 8–4 | 7–6 | 6–6 | 7–5 | 6–6 | — |
Notable transactions
- May 17, 1991: The Mariners traded cash and a player to be named later to the New York Yankees for Mike Blowers; Jim Blueberg (minors) was sent to the Yankees on June 22.[13]
- June 22: Randy Kramer signed with the Mariners.[14]
Roster
| 1991 Seattle Mariners | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roster | |||||||||
Pitchers
|
Catchers
Infielders
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Outfielders
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Manager
Coaches
| ||||||
Game log
Regular season
| 1991 regular season game log: 83–79 (Home: 45–36; Away: 38–43) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April: 10–11 (Home: 6–3; Away: 4–8)
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May: 15–12 (Home: 8–7; Away: 7–5)
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June: 14–13 (Home: 6–4; Away: 8–9)
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July: 15–12 (Home: 8–7; Away: 7–5)
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August: 13–15 (Home: 10–6; Away: 3–9)
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September: 12–15 (Home: 5–8; Away: 7–7)
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October: 4–1 (Home: 2–1; Away: 2–0)
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| Legend: = Win = Loss = Postponement Bold = Mariners team member |
Player stats
| = Indicates team leader |
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C | Dave Valle | 132 | 324 | 63 | .194 | 8 | 32 |
| 1B | Pete O'Brien | 152 | 560 | 139 | .248 | 17 | 88 |
| 2B | Harold Reynolds | 161 | 631 | 160 | .254 | 3 | 57 |
| 3B | Edgar Martínez | 150 | 544 | 167 | .307 | 14 | 52 |
| SS | Omar Vizquel | 142 | 426 | 98 | .230 | 1 | 41 |
| LF | Greg Briley | 139 | 381 | 99 | .260 | 2 | 26 |
| CF | Ken Griffey Jr. | 154 | 548 | 179 | .327 | 22 | 100 |
| RF | Jay Buhner | 137 | 406 | 99 | .244 | 27 | 77 |
| DH | Alvin Davis | 145 | 462 | 102 | .221 | 12 | 69 |
Other batters
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dave Cochrane | 65 | 178 | 44 | .247 | 2 | 22 |
| Henry Cotto | 66 | 177 | 54 | .305 | 6 | 23 |
| Tracy Jones | 79 | 175 | 44 | .251 | 3 | 24 |
| Scott Bradley | 83 | 172 | 35 | .203 | 0 | 11 |
| Jeff Schaefer | 84 | 164 | 41 | .250 | 1 | 11 |
| Tino Martinez | 36 | 112 | 23 | .205 | 4 | 9 |
| Alonzo Powell | 57 | 111 | 24 | .216 | 3 | 12 |
| Ken Griffey Sr. | 30 | 85 | 24 | .282 | 1 | 9 |
| Rich Amaral | 14 | 16 | 1 | .063 | 0 | 0 |
| Patrick Lennon | 9 | 8 | 1 | .125 | 0 | 1 |
| Matt Sinatro | 5 | 8 | 2 | .250 | 0 | 1 |
| Chris Howard | 9 | 6 | 1 | .167 | 0 | 0 |
Pitching
Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Randy Johnson | 33 | 201.1 | 13 | 10 | 3.98 | 228 |
| Brian Holman | 30 | 195.1 | 13 | 14 | 3.69 | 108 |
| Rich DeLucia | 32 | 182.0 | 12 | 13 | 5.09 | 98 |
| Bill Krueger | 35 | 175.0 | 11 | 8 | 3.60 | 91 |
| Erik Hanson | 27 | 174.2 | 8 | 8 | 3.81 | 143 |
Other pitchers
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 | 17 | 60.2 | 3 | 6 | 4.90 | 28 |
| Pat Rice | 7 | 21.0 | 1 | 1 | 3.00 | 12 |
| Dave Fleming | 9 | 17.2 | 1 | 0 | 6.62 | 11 |
Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bill Swift | 71 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 1.99 | 48 |
| Mike Jackson | 72 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 3.25 | 74 |
| Russ Swan | 63 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3.43 | 33 |
| Rob Murphy | 57 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 3.00 | 34 |
| Mike Schooler | 34 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3.67 | 31 |
| Calvin Jones | 27 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.53 | 42 |
| Dave Burba | 22 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.68 | 16 |
| Gene Harris | 8 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.05 | 6 |
| Keith Comstock | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54.00 | 0 |
Awards and honors
- Harold Reynolds won the Roberto Clemente Award[15]
- Ken Griffey Jr. was the team's lone All-Star Game selection and won a Gold Glove Award.[16]
Farm system
| Level | Team | League | Manager |
|---|---|---|---|
| AAA | Calgary Cannons | Pacific Coast League | Keith Bodie |
| AA | Jacksonville Suns | Southern League | Jim Nettles |
| A | San Bernardino Spirit | California League | Tommy Jones |
| A | Peninsula Pilots | Carolina League | Steve Smith |
| A-Short Season | Bellingham Mariners | Northwest League | Dave Myers |
| Rookie | AZL Mariners | Arizona League | Myron Pines |
- Source[17]