10 Best Players in Seattle Mariners History

In order to preserve what’s left of my sanity, I’ve frequently reminded myself (and you) that while the Seattle Mariners have had limited success as a team, it’s individual players have often been spectacular. For comparisons sake, the Mets (who I’m cobbling a similar list together for) have been around 15 years longer, have enjoyed more team success, but can’t match up, player for player, to the very best the M’s have had to offer). For a team that has only been around for 35 years, has yet to retire a number (other than Jackie Robinson‘s) and, for the moment, doesn’t have a Hall of Famer, they’ve seen a tremendous amount of talent pass through. Listed below are ten such fellows. It might be prudent to mention that each player’s credentials are only really taken into account based upon what they did as a Mariner. In other words, though Alex Rodriguez, PED’s be damned, is one of the greatest baseball players ever, I’m not basing his ranking on anything he’s done while with Texas or the Yankees. Rather, his placement is based upon his accomplishments as a Mariner, between 1994 and 2000. And away we go…..   10. Harold Reynolds-2B (1983-1992) – Baseball-reference.com ranks him as the 762’nd best hitter of all time, but it turns out that’s good enough for #10 in Mariners history….trust me, it gets better.   In the pre- Junior days of Mariner baseball, it didn’t get a whole lot better than Reynolds. Alvin Davis may have been dubbed “Mr. Mariner”, but, not only is that sad as fuck, it’s also probably inaccurate. Though Davis enjoyed several strong seasons, he never really exceeded his rookie campaign (a sort of syndrome among AL West first baseman in the mid-80’s- same thing with Wally Joyner. Probably would have been true of Mark McGwire too, except….well….you know….I’m not here to talk about the past…).   Where was I? Oh, right- Reynolds! In seven seasons as the M’s starting second baseman, Reynolds made two All Star teams and won three Gold Gloves. He also led the league in stolen bases for the 1987 season, which means Rickey Henderson sustained an injury that kept him out of the Yankee lineup for a good stretch (he actually did- I remember,because I watched a lot of Yankee games that year. I believe he missed about 40% of the schedule and nabbed 40-something bases). In fact, Reynolds is the only other man other Henderson to lead the AL in steals during the 1980’s. A fair accomplishment to be sure.   Unfortunately, around age 30, Reynolds began to slow, and was gone from Seattle following the 1992 season. Still, in the early days, he was as close to a franchise bat as the M’s had. And that’s good enough to round out the Top Ten.     9. Mark Langston-LHP (1984-1989) – In the mid to late-80’s, the American League had no starting pitcher more dominant this side of Roger Clemens than Seattle’s Mark Langston (unless, of course, it was an odd-numbered year, meaning Bret Saberhagen was unstoppable. Weirdo). In four full seasons as a Mariner, Langston led the league in strikeouts three times. He also picked up the first two of his eventual seven Gold Gloves while with the M’s.   All told, as a Mariner, Langston compiled a record of 74 wins and 67 losses, which doesn’t sound great until you consider how terrible the M’s were during his tenure (they actually didn’t post a winning record until 1991, by which point Langston had been gone for two and a half years).   Finally, Langston was the gift that kept on giving, as he was the guy who fetched Randy Johnson in a trade with Montreal. Moreover, nine years later, Johnson was flipped for a guy (Freddy Garcia) who anchored the M’s rotation during the most successful stretch in team history. So, in other words, Langston was, one way or another, paying dividends for 20 years.     8. Jay Buhner-OF (1988-2001) – Speaking of trades that paid off, you can’t do a lot better than Ken Phelps for Jay Buhner. In his fourteen seasons wearing some variation of the “S” atop his cap, Buhner was a dependable middle of the order power threat, with a great arm out in right field to boot.   Having spent virtually his entire career here, Buhner recorded 307 of his 310 home runs as a Mariner. Though only a .254 career hitter, his on base percentage was a full 100 points higher due to frequent walks. His best season was 1996- he hit .271 with 44 HR, 138 RBI, won his only Gold Glove and made the All Star team.   What’s more, he’s a meaningful part of the community, as he proved just the other day by admitting on the radio that a multi-year extension for Ichiro would cause him to “vomit.” Love ya, Bone!     7. Felix Hernandez-RHP (2005-????) – Provided he stays a while, the King is almost a sure thing to continue to climb these rankings. At just 26 years old, Felix is, without question, the franchise. He debuted as a 19-year-old in 2005, and he never left. In the subsequent seven years, he’s put up a solid 92-72 record (remember, the Mariners are shitty, so that’s like CC Sabathia winning, like, 93% of his starts), has already struck out more than 1,400 batters, made three All Star teams and won the 2010 Cy Young Award. He was so good in ’10 that even a record a 13-12 couldn’t stop him from winning the Cy in a cakewalk. Any listing that doesn’t include Felix as one of the top five pitchers in all of baseball is a stupid one. Though he’s always the subject of trade rumors, here’s hoping the King reigns in Seattle for years to come.     6. Jamie Moyer-LHP (1996-2006) – Possibly the biggest steal in Mariner history, Moyer improbably compiled a 145-87 record as a Mariner, making him tops in team history in victories. A guy who, even at his best, gave up a fair few home runs, interestingly Moyer was just as successful in the homer-happy Kingdome as he was at Safeco. He twice won 20 games and was a pretty serious Cy Young candidate several times. For all intents and purposes, even though he was 33 when he got here, Seattle is where it all started for Jamie Moyer. And we thank him for it.     5. Alex Rodriguez-SS (1994-2000) – Let’s, for once, cast aside the sickening and dishonest way A-Rod left us, and focus on just how dominant he was in his all too brief time as a Mariner. In his first full season, Rodriguez led the AL in hitting at a .358 clip, hit 36 HR, knocked in 123, had a mammoth 1.045 OPS (his career best until 2007), and smacked 54 doubles. He was an All Star, won the Silver Slugger for shortstops and finished 2nd in MVP voting (should have been first, because the M’s would have sucked without his bat that season. They were missing Randy Johnson most of the year for fucks sake!).   After a down 1997, A-Rod came roaring back, and from 1998-2000, he never hit less than 41 home runs or drove in less than 111. In ’98, he comfortably entered the 40-40 club with 42 HR and 46 SB. He was a beast. And then he was gone…but not before cementing his legacy as one of the M’s all time greats. He’s the most hated man in team history, but that distinction would be impossible had he not absolutely ripped it up for several years.     4. Ichiro Suzuki (2001-*hopefully* 2012) – Not as great a player as A-Rod, but he’s done it all in a Mariners uniform, which gives him the duke. Ichiro is one of two guys who will be sporting Mariners caps on their Hall of Fame plaques within the next decade. For ten consecutive seasons, he hit at least .300 and recorded at least 200 hits, the latter mark being a Major League record. Speaking of records, his 262 hits in 2004 have yet to be matched.   Say what you want about the guy (and believe me, I’ve said plenty), but these numbers don’t lie: 2,526 career hits, 436 stolen bases, ten Gold Gloves, ten All Star selections. He led the AL in hits seven times, won three Silver Slugger awards, two batting titles and was both 2001 AL Rookie of the Year AND Most Valuable Player. And even after two lousy seasons, he’s still a .322 career hitter. A true great you were, Ichi….now get the fuck out of town!! 😉     3. Randy Johnson-LHP (1989-1998) – It sort of breaks my heart that The Big Unit will almost certainly be wearing a Diamondbacks cap when he’s inducted to Cooperstown. After GM Woody Woodward stupidly let him walk, Johnson uncorked the most dominant stretch of his career- winning four straight Cy Young Awards for Arizona from 1999 to 2002. But he was a hell of a pitcher before that, too.   As a Mariner, the Unit posted a record of 130-74, struck out 2,162 batters and won the 1995 AL Cy Young. That year, he went 18-2 with a league-leading 2.48 ERA, and struck out 294 hitters in just 30 starts. He also made time to save baseball in Seattle for future generations. As great as Felix is, no one made an M’s fan feel a greater sense of confidence than the Unit (of course, his offenses were frequently amazing, and Felix gets virtually no run support, but still).     2. Edgar Martinez-DH/3B (1987-2004) – I will believe, until the day I die, that Edgar Martinez is a Hall of Famer. Yet he’ll probably be held out due to two factors that are/were completely beyond his control: 1. The Baseball Writers Association of America’s stubborn refusal to accept that a guy who was mainly a DH deserves it. 2. He wasn’t given the opportunity to start until he was 27, depriving him of the types of milestones that make enshrinement something of a formality.   Edgar was a big deal. The award for the league’s best DH is named after him. The reason David Ortiz is known as “Big Papi” is because Edgar was already “Papi.” Martinez was a two time batting champion, collected 2,247 hits, 514 doubles and 1,261 RBI. He had a .312 career average, a .418 on-base percentage, and a .933 OPS. He led the league in OBP three times, and once led the AL in RBI (in 2000…at 37 years of age…in the midst of the steroid era). In every full season from 1991 to 2003, Edgar never posed on OBP lower than .403. He was a hitting machine- arguably the greatest right handed hitter of his generation. He delivered the most famous hit (the double that scored Junior and won the 1995 ALDS) in franchise history. The street outside Safeco Field is named after him. Enough said.     1. Ken Griffey, Jr.-OF (1989-1999, 2009-2010) – I can still hear “Hip-Hop Hooray” playing over the Kingdome speakers as Junior steps to the plate (hey, that song was cool as shit in 1993!) Like Mickey Mantle, the only thing preventing Griffey from being a finalist in the Greatest of All Time argument were those goddamn hamstrings. Still, he’s clearly one of the best ever, by any metric.   Let’s begin with the numbers and then move on to some things that might matter even more…and keep in mind, these are just his Mariners stats: 417 home runs, 1,216 RBI, a unanimous AL MVP, ten Gold Gloves, ten All Star appearances. At just 29 years old, he was named to the Major League Baseball All Century Team.   He led the AL in homers four times, hitting 56 of them in consecutive seasons. Oh, and there was never even the faintest whisper of steroid use. All told, he hit 630 home runs in his incredible career. And though he’s been surpassed by Rodriguez and Barry Bonds and currently ranks 6th all time, only three men in the history of the game have hit more home runs without the benefit of performance enhancing substances: their names are Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth and Willie Mays. This is the company that George Kenneth Griffey, Jr. keeps.   In addition to these staggering accolades, he played center with an aptitude and a grace matched only by Mays. His swing was visual perfection. And virtually every young player currently in the game revered him above all others as a kid. Maybe if a few of those kids aren’t in awe of Junior, they lack the passion that allows them to blow our minds today. That means a lot.   If I could say one thing about Griffey that proves what he meant, it would be this: as starved as we in Seattle are for a trophy, if I were given the chance to trade the experience of seeing Junior play so brilliantly all those years for a championship, I wouldn’t do it. And, given the circumstances, I can’t think of anything that would constitute higher praise than that.