A number of years ago, I was reading one of those annual MLB preview magazines (Street and Smith's, Lindy's, etc.), and after writing about some reasons for optimism for Mariners' fans, they added "Sounds like that episode where the castaways almost got off the island, doesn't it?".  I thought that was appropriate.  To date, the Mariners remain the only MLB franchise to have never won a pennant, let alone a World Series, and that counts those 4 teams which debuted long after they did.  Well, there's always next week's episode - maybe the professor can rig a two-way radio from coconut shells, seaweed and electric eels. 

 

The Mariners entered the American League in 1977.  Their creation was the fulfillment of a pledge the league had made to the city following the departure of the Pilots to Milwaukee in 1970, and also helped to stave off some $32.5 million in lawsuits that the city and the state of Washington had pending against the league as a result of the Pilots debacle. The consortium of individuals who put up the $7 million admission fee and millions more to stock the club with players included entertainer Danny Kaye. 

 

The club finished in 6th place in 1977, which was not bad for a 1st year team, but when you consider the only thing which saved them from the basement was Charlie Finley's truly wretched A's, it should be clear it wasn't really a sign of hope.  Though they had a few talented home-grown youngsters during their first decade or so of existence (Mark Langston, Alvin Davis, Harold Reynolds, Jim Presley, Matt Young, etc.) it wasn't enough to get them even to .500, a mark which took them until 1991 to reach.  By the early 1990s, they had a number of future Hall-of-Famers on the roster, and the most immediate impact was their first post-season berth in 1995.  After they defeated the Yankees in thrilling, walk-off fashion in the ALDS that year, they lost the ALCS in 6 to the Indians.  The next several years saw continued competitiveness, capped by a 116-win monster season in 2001.  It was for naught because they fizzled, 4 games to  1, against a 95-win Yankees club in the ALCS.  It took them until 2022 to finally make it back to the post-season, but an early exit in the ALDS ensured the remain the only club without a pennant to their name.          

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The main purpose of this page is to illustrate those players, managers and coaches who have been the most prominent in the franchise's history.  Links below will take you to galleries highlighting each, by position.  Generally, an individual is included if he spent at least 2 full seasons (consecutive or cumulative) as a starter, relief pitcher, closer or manager. For coaches, I've generally used 5 years of service as the bar.  None of this is scientific, though, so there are exceptions.  Where possible and practical, I used pictures of actual baseball cards because that it is the medium through which I, and I suppose many others, first discovered the game. Where necessary, I designed my own images.  Images of actual baseball cards were obtained at the Card Cyber Museum, and for my own designs I used photos found at host of different sites, but none moreso than the wonderful forum at Out of the Park Developments.  

 

I claim no rights to, or ownership of, any of the photographic images I've used on these pages.   You are welcome to use them yourself.  All I ask is that that if you use any of my personal creations, you give credit to this site.