How Mariners management turned the magic of 1995 into a mess today

By Kshell

We all remember the magical run of 1995 that saved baseball in Seattle. The Seattle Mariners who were playing in their 19th season headed to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history. Now 1995 suddenly has been 17 years ago. When the Mariners defeated the New York Yankees in a best of five game series in the first round the town was crazy for the Mariners. When Ken Griffey Jr. slid into home plate for the winning run Mariners play by play announcer Dave Niehaus screamed "It just continues! My oh my!" well unfortunately that run didn't continue. The Mariners lost the next series to the Cleveland Indians in six games. With a core that featured Ken Griffey Jr, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, and Tino Martinez who were all in their prime plus up and comer Alex Rodriguez on his way things appeared bright for this franchise. They also had a future hall of fame manager in Lou Piniella running the show as well. Instead the Mariners made the playoffs just three more times after that and are the only American League franchise to have never played in a World Series. The Mariners are currently in a rut having finished in last place six of the last eight seasons. How did this happen? In this following post I'll explain in 11 basic steps how the franchise went from a magical run to in the mess they currently find themselves in right now.

1. Traded Tino Martinez and Jeff Nelson to the New York Yankees:

After defeating the Yankees in a hard fought series the Mariners ownership decided to cut back on payroll instead of go all out. Meaning a choice had to be made. The Mariners announced only one Martinez(Edgar or Tino) was going to be dealt. Since Edgar had just saved baseball Tino was dealt. Trading Tino Martinez was bad but what made this deal particularly bad was he was dealt to the New York Yankees. The Mariners also included reliever Jeff Nelson. Martinez was coming off of an All-Star season at the age of 27 years old he hit .293/.369/.551 with 31 home runs, 111 RBI's and 92 runs scored. Martinez was a former first round pick of the Mariners so this trade really hurt. Nelson who was a 28 year old reliever finally had a break out year going 7-3 in 62 appearences. He pitched 78.2 innings, saving two games, posting a 2.17 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 96 strikeouts(11.0 K's per 9). Both Nelson and Martinez would help the Yankees win four World Series titles. While what the Mariners got in return was Sterling Hitchcock who would win the 1998 NLCS MVP award as the Mariners shipped him away for Scott Sanders who they then dealt for Omar Olivares and Felipe Lira. The other piece was Russ Davis who posted a negative 1.3 WAR in his four lack luster seasons in Seattle. The Mariners help build a dynasty with a team they just defeated while potentially costing themselves from 1996-2003.

2. The Bullpen was historically awful:

After trading away Jeff Nelson and over using Norm Charlton in 1995 the bullpen suffered in 1996. After 1996 the Mariners inexplicably resigned Bobby Ayala back and let Mike Jackson go. The 1997 Mariners set the all-time home run record for a team which featured two batting champions in Edgar Martinez and Alex Rodriguez. Also featured MVP Ken Griffey Jr who belted 56 home runs that year and Randy Johnson finished that season second in the Cy Young race. The terrible bullpens of 1997 and 1998 made sure a team with Griffey Jr, Martinez, Johnson and A-Rod would never win a playoff series together in their prime years.

Ayala took most of the blame of the bullpen failures as he pitched with the Mariners from 1994-1998 posting a 27-26 record in 292 games pitched. He threw 367 innings with a 4.88 era, 1.41 WHIP and had 374 strikeouts with 56 saves. His final year in Seattle in 1998 he was 1-10 with a 7.29 ERA. In the playoffs Ayala posted a 17.47 ERA allowing 11 runs in 5.2 innings in the 1995 and 1997 playoff series combined. The bullpen struggles of 1997 not only cost them that season but put the Mariners franchise in a state of panic which cost them down the road.

3. Mariners trade away three young stars in Varitek, Lowe and Cruz Jr in 1997:

In 1997 the Mariners bullpen was killing the team as the division race was falling away. So the Mariners decided to trade Jose Cruz Jr. who was the 3rd overall pick in the 1995 draft to the Toronto Blue Jays for setup men Mike Timlin and Paul Spoljaric. Cruz. Jr at the time was hitting .268/.315/.541 with 12 home runs and 34 RBI's in 183 at bats. He would finish the year second in the rookie of the year. While Spoljaric flopped and Timlin left the Mariners after the 1998 season. Cruz Jr. posted back to back 30 home runs season in 2000 and 2001 when the Mariners lost back to back ALCS trips. In 2001 Cruz Jr hit .274/.326/.530 with 34 home runs and 32 stolen bases. He could have been the missing power the Mariners needed. What is sad is he wasn't even the worst trade that day.

Cruz. Jr stole all the headlines that day but another trade set the Mariners back. The Mariners traded former first round pick catcher Jason Varitek and pitcher Derek Lowe to the Boston Red Sox for closer Heathcliff Slocumb. Slocumb was the closer for the 1997 division champions but was ineffective. In less than two seasons with the Mariners Slocumb was 2-9 in 84 games. He threw 96 innings posting a high ERA of 4.97, a 1.63 WHIP and had only 13 saves. Meanwhile Varitek and Lowe ended the curse of the Bambino in 2004 as the Red Sox won the World Series title first time in 86 years. Varitek won another title in 2007 as he was the Red Sox captain. Varitek was named to three all-star games, won a gold glove and silver slugger award. In 15 seasons he hit .256/.341/.435 in 5,099 at bats. He belted 193 home runs while driving in 757 RBI's. 

Derek Lowe enjoyed a long career as well. Lowe is 166-146 in his career with a 3.94 era and 1.31 WHIP with 85 saves. Lowe made two all-star games where he led the league in saves in 2000 and then in 2002 as a starter finished 3rd in the CY Young race. During the 2004 playoff run Lowe was the winning pitcher in the series clinching game in all three series. The Mariners could have used Lowe as a bullpen arm in the late 1990's or used him as a front of the rotation pitcher in the 2000's. They definately could have used Varitek's power at the catcher position or Cruz Jr power in left field in 2000-2001. Instead it was all wasted away to pick up three crappy relievers.

4. Poor drafts from 1997-2008:

Starting in 1997 and going all the way until 2008(could be even longer but the rest are too early to tell) the Mariners have done poorly in the draft. Starting in 1997 when the Mariners took 6'11" left handed pitcher Ryan Anderson with 19th pick overall. Most of baseball fell in love with Anderson as he instantly became compared to Randy Johnson. Anderson was also a top prospect for the longest time but never threw an inning in the major leagues.

Here are the list of the names of the Mariners first round picks after Anderon.
1998-Matt Thornton(did nothing for the Mariners but turned good for the White Sox after Bavasi gave him away).
1999- Jeff Heaverlo(never pitched in the major leagues)
1999- Ryan Christianson(11th pick overall, catcher never cracked the major leagues)
2001- Michael Garciaparra(never played in the majors)
2002- John Mayberry(never signed with Mariners, re-entered draft)
2003- Adam Jones(Bavasi traded him away for Bedard in 2008, currently an all-star with the Orioles)
2005- Jeff Clement(3rd pick overall as a catcher. Hit .237/.309/.393 with just 7 HR's in 219 AB's. Currently in minor leagues)
2006- Brandon Morrow(5th pick overall and was chosen ahead of hometown pitcher Tim Lincecum. Lincecum has won two Cy Youngs and a World Series. Morrow has since been traded).
2007- Matt Mangini(has had just 38 AB's with Mariners)
2007- Phillippe Aumont(11th overall pick, is still in the minors. Part of the Cliff Lee trade)
2008- Josh Fields(has yet to make the majors and is in double A as the Mariners have traded him).

Add it all up zero all-star game appearences for the Mariners, seven guys who never played one game for the Mariners and six who were traded away. Hard to win when you whiff on every single first round pick in a 12 year stretch like the Mariners did.

5. Getting rid of Randy Johnson too early:


After finishing second in the Cy Young race in 1997 Johnson was entering his final year on his contract. Johnson wanted a three year deal while the Mariners told him he didn't have three years left. During the 1998 Johnson didn't pitch up to his usual standards and was traded for Freddy Garcia, John Halama and Carlos Guillen. Now that ended up being a decent trade but make no mistake none of them were worth a Randy Johnson. Johnson proved he had several years left as he pitched until the 2009 season.

 Johnson after leaving the Mariners would go on to win four straight Cy Young's then finished second in 2004. He was also World Series MVP in 2001 as well. With the Diamondbacks Johnson was dominant over the next six seasons. Johnson went 103-49(.677) while throwing 1,389.2 innings posting an ERA of 2.65 and a 1.05 WHIP. He also had 1,833 strikeouts good for 11.87 K's per 9. The Mariners desperately needed an ace during the 2000-2003 run when Johnson was winning three of his four Cy Young's in a row and finished in second place in 2004. Even at the end of his career Johnson proved to be a quality pitcher as he won over 300 games in his major league career. The emotional scars of trading away Johnson set up a bad three year stretch for the Mariners as they saw three straight offseasons where they were asked to replace a future hall of famer.

6. Losing both A-rod and Griffey Jr in back to back seasons:

After losing Johnson the Mariners saw Ken Griffey Jr. demande a trade after the 1999 season. The Mariners traded him for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko and two prospects who never panned out from the Cincinnati Reds. The Mariners without Griffey became Alex Rodriguez team as they advanced to the ALCS before losing in six games to the eventual World Series champions New York Yankees. Griffey who had always owned the Yankees could have been the difference that playoff series as the Mariners lost two heartbreaking games. After that series Rodriguez left the team for a record 10 year 252 million dollars to the Texas Rangers.

In 2001 the Mariners would once again get better without a superstar. The Mariners won a major league record 116 games but failed to reach the World Series. After that season the Mariners little did they know at the time would never reach the playoffs again. While Rodriguez has since joined the Yankees and won a World Series. The Mariners survived at first losing three hall of famers in three successive years but no franchise can survive that long term and the Mariners were no exceptions.

7. Stood "Pat" during the 2000-2003 trade deadlines:

The Mariners posted the best record out of any major league franchise during the four season stretch from 2000-03 yet had no World Series banners to show for it. The reason was the Mariners management refused to upgrade at the trade deadline. In 2000 the only trade was John Mabry for Al Martin(whose blunder in the outfield in the 8th inning of game two of the ALCS started the big inning for the Yankees). In 2001 the Mariners had the division title practically wrapped up by May so fans started to wonder what they need come October. Most felt the Mariners could use one more stick but most of all was a frontline starting pitcher(Randy Johnson would have been nice). The main guy on the block was Al Leiter who was in his second season of five straight seasons of having his ERA in the mid 3.00 range. Leiter had won a World Series with the Blue Jays and along with Freddy Garcia and Jamie Moyer could have made up a nice playoff rotation. Then Mariners general manager Pat Gillick didn't want to be another Woody Woodward from 1997 where he was known as the guy who gave away the next young prospect. Instead the Mariners stood pat and lost in the 2001 ALCS as Aaron Sele the #3 starter had to pitch games one and five and got shelled in both games. In 2002 and 2003 the Mariners once again made no moves and missed the playoffs down the stretch. Since then the Mariners have finished in last place six of the last eight seasons.

8. The roster got old and there was no young replacements ready:

The Mariners in 2004 woke up one morning and were suddenly old. After winning 90+ games four years in a row the Mariners lost 99 games in 2004. I'll list the Mariners opening day lineup in 2004 with their ages next to their name.

1. Ichiro RF(30 years old)
2. Winn CF(30 years old)
3. Boone 2B(35 years old)
4. Ibanez LF(32 years old)
5. Martinez DH(41 yeards old)
6. Olerud 1B(35 years old)
7. Aurilia SS(32 years old)
8. Wilson C(35 years old)
9. Bloomquist 3B(26 years old) was filling in for Scott Spiezio(31 years old)
SP- Moyer(41 years old)
Closer- Guardado(33 years old)

That roster was old. The Mariners didn't bring in any youthful pieces to take over for some of their veterans. Due to the poor drafting there was no up and comer to take over for when a Jay Buhner retired or when Edgar Martinez retired. Nobody to take over when Moyer or Dan Wilson got old. This franchise got old pretty quick and with steroid testing about to begin players stopped being in their prime in their mid 30's.

9. Lou Piniella left the franchise after 2002:

When the Mariners stood pat in 2002 after Piniella screamed to the press over and over he wanted one more hitter for this team. After winning 116 games in 2001 the Mariners stormed out of the gates in 2002 with the best record again after April. Due to injuries and regression to the mean the Mariners were being overtaken by the Oakland A's(the money ball season) and the Anaheim Angels. Eventually losing out the division and wildcard race to both. Frustrated with ownership and seeing that this roster wasn't getting any younger Piniella decided to leave for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

While in Seattle Piniella went 840-711(.542) in 10 seasons. The Mariners prior to his arrival had just one winning season. During his 10 seasons the Mariners had seven winning seasons, four trips to the playoffs and three trips to the American League Championship Series. Since Piniella's departure the Mariners have had just three winning seasons and six last place finishes. The Mariners are just 665-793(.456) since Piniella has left the team. It's looking more and more like Piniella made this franchise as before and after he was here the franchise has produced just four winning seasons(one of which was right after he left). The Mariners have had six full-time managers in the nine seasons that Piniella has been gone and a total of eight overall. This franchise has been a huge mess since he has left.

10. The Bill Bavasi years:

The Bavasi era really sank this franchise. He came into a difficult task as the Mariners roster was old heading into the 2004 season and like I pointed out had drafted poorly from 1997-2003(which doesn't include 1993, 1994 and 1995 first rounder A-rod, Varitek and Cruz Jr no longer part of the franchise) meaning he didn't have a great situation. So it was important that the Mariners got that GM hire correct. Instead they got it so wrong the franchise is still struggling from it. Bavasi is known as the GM who built the first ever 100 loss team from a 100 million dollar payroll. In his five years with the Mariners they went 359-451(.443) with four losing seasons all of which saw them finish in last place.

In fact the Bavasi era was so disasterous I hope you take the time to read my blog post about the Bill Bavasi years as his era deserves a separate post. Adam Jones, Asdrubal Cabrera and Shin Soo-Choo were all traded away under his watch. Jeff Clement was chosen ahead of Ryan Zimmerman, Troy Tulowitzki, Ricky Romero and Ryan Braun. He also chose Brandon Morrow with the 5th pick overall. Taken shortly after him was currenty Cy Young pitcher Clayton Kershaw who went 7th overall and two-time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum who was picked 10th overall. Bavasi blew payroll, lost games and developed no talent in his years. The franchise was a mess by the time he stepped away.

11. This franchise has no identity:

Jack Zduriencik was asked to take over for Bill Bavasi. Jack Z basically has walked into a room full of crap all over the walls and ceiling. So far Z has been able to clean a spot off so there is some hope but the place still is covered in crap. In Jack Z's three years in Seattle the Mariners are 213-273(.438) with 196 losses the last two years finishing in last place. The problem with the franchise now is they appear to have no identity. The Mariners are in a rebuilding mode with young prospects yet are trotting Chone Figgins out there over Kyle Seager. Ichiro will receive as much at bats as possible while Casper Wells and Trayvon Robinson rot away. The Mariners farm system far as the hitting goes is still a mess. The Mariners are just a franchise with no true identity anymore. Second straight  offseason where they did nothing after appearing to go for it in 2010 when trading for Cliff Lee and signing Figgins(which blew up in Jack Z's face). Yet in these offseasons the Mariners are signing older guys like Kevin Millwood, Miguel Olivo, Jack Cust, etc. Jack Z inherited a mess as I just explained the franchise was in the toilet well before he arrived but he isn't exactly getting them out of the toilet either. This franchise needs to full on committ to rebuilding which should start with cutting bait on the older guys and going with the young guys.

Back in 1995 the Mariners took over the city. The Sonics were in the middle of their prime and Husky football was towards the end of their run as well. Yet it was the Mariners who captured the cities heart during that time. Ever since 1995 Mariners management has slowly but surely destroyed that feeling. When the Mariners are sitting at home watching the playoffs for the 11th straight year you'll now know why it got to that point. Ever since that magical ride in 1995 the Mariners have made one key blunder after another as attendance continues to drop each season. Look for Safeco Field to be empty yet again as the Mariners continue to be lost this year. Do we compete now? Do we rebuild? Should we play the young guys and punt this year? Should we give Ichiro one last final send off? That is the problem the Mariners don't even know and they never fully commit to one solution. The Mariners are a mess and this was painful to write but felt it had to be done. Maybe on the 20th anniversary of the Mariners magical 1995 run the Mariners by then can finally compete for a playoff spot. One can only hope but knowing this ownership I have my doubts. After reading this how can anyone trust this ownership ever again? I sure as hell don't.

Indians crush Mariners 12-3 in home opener!

By Kshell

The Cleveland Indians(5-2) ruin their former manager Eric Wedge's home debut with his new ball club the Seattle Mariners by destroying them early. The Indians put the Mariners away with a 10 run fourth inning to defeat them 12-3. On a day where the Mariners honored legendary announcer Dave Niehaus who passed away this offseason the team put up a performance that Niehaus was used to from the 1980's. The Mariners will never be able to replace the voice of Niehaus but must find a way to snap this five game losing streak. The Mariners still aren't hitting which is putting too much pressure on the starting pitcher. When the starting pitcher has an off night the game is essentially over since the team has scored just 24 runs in seven games and just 13 in the last five games.

Before the game had begun the Mariners honored Dave Niehaus when rapper Macklemore rapped a tribute song for Niehaus. Then there was a plaque for Niehaus above the announcers booth forever that read "Niehaus 1977-2010". The Mariners also presented gold gloves to Franklin Gutierrez and Ichiro. Ichiro was presented with an award from Edgar Martinez for breaking Martinez Mariners hit record. The Mariners then presented Felix Hernandez his Cy Young award. Then the game began and it was all down hill. The second batter of the game and former Mariners product Asdrubal Cabrera took Jason Vargas deep to left field for a home run to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. In the bottom half of the inning Ichiro led the inning off with a hit but was quickly cancelled out when Chone Figgins lined into a double play. Vargas would put up zero's the next two innings but then the fourth inning happened.

In the fourth inning the game quickly got away from Jason Vargas. The inning began with a simple single by Shin-Soo Choo and moved to third on a Carlos Santana base hit. The Indians then scored on a Travis Hafner single to shallow center field scoring Choo and moving Santana to second base to give the Indians a 2-0 lead. Orlando Cabrera then got a base hit scoring Santana giving the Indians a 3-0 lead. Austin Kearns then finally got an extra base hit ripping a double scoring Hafner and giving the Indians a 4-0 lead. Then the Mariners got their first out of the inning when Matt LaPorta hit a sac fly scoring Cabrera giving the Indians a 5-0 lead. Former Mariner Jack Hannahan recorded a base hit scoring Kearns giving the Indians a 6-0 lead and ending Jason Vargas night after just 3 1/3 innings pitched. Wedge brought in Tom Wilhelmsen who turned a blowout into a disaster. After allowing another base hit Wilhelmsen struck out Asdrubal Cabrera for the second out. Santana then got an RBI base hit scoring two guys to give the Indians an 8-0 lead. To cap the inning Hafner hit a three run home run to give the Indians an 11-0 lead and scoring 10 runs in the inning. Most of the Seattle crowd had left at that point in the game.

The Mariners at one point trailed in this game 12-0 but would score three meaningless runs throughout the game. Ichiro drove in two of the runs to pad his stats. Overall this was a disasterous game for the Mariners as they have now lost five games in a row. Despite being 2-5 this was the first poorly pitched game by the Mariners. The Mariners just can't get any consistent offense going. They have scored just 13 runs the last five games(2.6 per game) which is putting too much pressure on the pitching staff. The Mariners look no better than the team who lost 101 games last season. The team will have to start scoring some runs or fans will lose interest by May.

All in all, this is going to be a long rebuilding season for the Mariners. The Mariners roster right now most likely will be totally different than in June. The team lacks hitting and unfortunately other than Dustin Ackley there is no hope on the horizon for this team. The Mariners have to stay patient with Eric Wedge unlike previous managers. This team simply isn't good and wasn't good last year. The Mariners when they make the youth movement at least will be sort of exciting. Until then you have to just grit your teeth and ride through the pain. The Mariners on a day they honored Dave Niehaus put up a pathetic performance. This wasn't the proper way to say thanks to our hall of fame announcer.

Observations:

- Jason Vargas struggled pretty bad after such a great start against Oakland. Vargas wasn't hit hard just gave up base hit after base hit. Vargas finished the game pitching 3 1/3 innings allowing nine hits, seven earned runs and just one strikeout. Vargas on most teams would be your fourth or fifth starter. In reality he is the Mariners fourth best starter. Most games Vargas won't be the problem and is proof that signing guys like Jarrod Washburn to big money is stupid. You can always find effective fourth and fifth starters at Safeco Field.

- The hitting was led by Ichiro who went 2-5 with two RBI's. The team is struggling is an understatement. The Mariners had four guys in the lineup yesterday hitting .200 or worst. Figgins(.100), Brendan Ryan(.167), Ryan Langerhans(.154) and Jack Cust(.200). The Mariners only .300 hitter is Adam Kennedy who is hitting exactly .300 on 3-10 for the season. The hitting has just been horrible this season with only two home runs so far this year. The team is going to struggle scoring runs all season long and will challenge last year's team for worst offense in franchise history.

- Wedge is in for a long season. I like what he is doing so far with the Jack Wilson situation. For those who don't know Jack Wilson after committing two errors in Wednesday's loss to the Texas Rangers asked out of the ball game. Wedge called the move unthinkable and is benching Wilson in response. Good chance Wilson may have played his last game for the Mariners.

I also like how Wedge isn't afraid to call out his team. His quote speaks volumes to the entire team "I don't care if you make 18 million or $450,000 you have a job to do. That job is to always play hard no matter. Some guys think because they are making a lot of money they can get away with that well they are in for a rude awakening". I love that Wedge isn't afraid of this team and is standing up for himself. Wedge might not be the guy but at least he is showing some fire and ruffling the feathers on this team.

Overall, this was a disappointing way to open the 2011 season in Safeco Field. This was supposed to be a great day as we saw a sell out crowd, honored Dave Niehaus, gave Felix Hernandez a Cy Young award. Instead the team laid an egg and reminded fans we have a long ways to go. This team is going to struggle for a while. The Mariners sadly will have more games like this until things change. I just don't see where the changes will be made as long as Howard Lincoln and Chuck Armstrong are here this team will continue to fail. Just remember fans we have a great ball park, some great pitchers but don't think for a second this is a good product. This opening day was a cold hard reality check to the fans that this team still stinks.

I LOVE THIS TOWN

By: PAYNE

First and foremost I would like to thank all of the readers who took their time to read this piece. I hope this is my first of many articles that I would like to share here at SSB. My name is Korey Payne and I am currently a 23 year old student in the Wenatchee area and would one day like to combine my passion for sports along with my love of storytelling.

Growing up 60 minutes from Seattle I naturally was raised as your typical Seattle sports fan. Go Seahawks, Go Mariners, Go Huskies, & Go Sonics (by the way, I haven’t drunk an ounce of Starbucks since our beloved Sonics were deported like a bag of coffee from Columbia). One thing I didn’t pay much attention to as a youngster was wins & losses. All I wanted to see was Shawn Kemp create posters and Ken Griffey blast homeruns. It was great. No matter what time of the year it was I could always count on watching my team go to battle and watch my favorite superstars ship highlights to the sports center express. The sounds of Dave Niehaus, Kevin Calabro, and Steve Raible still give me chills (RIP Dave Niehaus).

I was also very fortunate to attend a number of Husky football camps that were held annually at Evergreen State College where I could spend time with just my grandmother and myself. Of course my favorite college team in the world. Often the likes of Reggie Williams, Marques Tuiasosopo, and Cody Pickett would make their way to the sidelines to show me a little love and engage in a game of catch or take a simple picture. What was simple to them made lifetime memories for me.



As I began to mature however, I noticed one common occurrence between all of my teams. We seemed to never win a championship. While we came up close a few times such as the Sonics in 96, the Mariners 116 win season in 01’, to as close as a couple of NFL referees away from the Lombardi trophy in 2005(2006 Super Bowl). There were also those seasons where we would just flat out stink. And I mean a lot of seasons. Probably more combined than other city if you were to add up total losing seasons from the top 3 major American sports. Wait, I forgot Cleveland is still on the map even after the king left the building (or quicken loans arena in this matter).This pattern was all too familiar and often left me with a lot of heartbreak. Yes, I use Seattle sports as an excuse to why I was a fat loser growing up. But wait, maybe just maybe this was not the worst thing in the world. Let me explain…



Imagine a city rich of sports history, 10+ championships in all three of our major sports. A couple NCAA championships. Maybe even a Heisman or two for Cody Pickett. While this may sound like a dream come true to most and believe me, it does to me as well. What if we become spoiled by these roller coaster marathons with our teams that anything else would just be unpleasant. If the Mariners were looking for their third straight world series title, it would consume the vast majority of our lives for those six plus months out of the year. Die-hard fans such as myself wouldn’t be able to help it. Look how miserable Yankees and Red Sox fans look.

You know that feeling when you’re driving down I-5 on a sunny day and your favorite song is on the radio and it feels like nothing can screw your day up until all of a sudden a black Volvo with Oregon license plates cuts you off and sends your brain to the insane asylum? That has got to be what it’s like on a daily basis for those fans. The constant pressure of needing your team to meet unreasonable expectations from not only the media but yourself. There is that slight chance that we may have it better than them. Our teams upper management are constantly making big moves in each of the off seasons to keep us interested and allow ourselves to quietly think, “maybe this is our year”. Now this thought usually goes away half way through the season but it leaves you just enough time to not get too attached and you are able to go on about your simple life and enjoy that simple life.

Think how nice it is not having to argue with your wife (or husband) about watching too much sports. When your team is 10 games out of first place it makes it difficult to watch every down, pitch, or possession. Of course there will always be those near miracle seasons you put together such as the three I previously listed. We all should know by now that there is no greater feeling that being the underdog and having a chance to shock the world knowing deep down that you knew we had the chance all along. It gives us a feeling of accomplishment like we helped get them there and “were gonna show those idiot east coast fans” that we have a good as shot as any.



Now I don’t want you to think that in some sick way I want to live my whole life without seeing one of my teams going the distance. At the same time a little reflection in knowing that I don’t have it so bad doesn’t hurt. I’m proud to say I’m a Seattle fan no matter where I go and no matter what city I’m in I will represent Seattle sports with a smile on my face knowing that we assemble the greatest group of guys who truly want to be here. I know that every game I go to there is going to be thousands of screaming fans just like myself who have been through the same ups and downs as I have and no matter how bad a previous season ended up they continue to say…There is always next year…

RIP legendary voice Dave Niehaus

By Kshell

When I heard the news that Dave Niehaus had passed away I was in complete shock at first. Not that he was young he was 75 years old but he was the voice of the Seattle Mariners. He called the very first game in 1977 and has called many terrible games in his time as the voice of the Mariners. Despite mostly losing seasons Niehaus had a way to connect with the audience and still seem energetic about his job. Niehaus was from Indiana but you felt like he was a Northwest guy. He was always talking about other sports team whether it be the Sonics, Seahawks or the Huskies.

When Niehaus joined the Mariners he had been an announcer in Los Angeles for the Angles, Boxing, UCLA sports for the previous 10 seasons. He was just trying to get a start to his career. He called the very first pitch delivered in Mariners history when Diego Segui delivered the very first pitch for a strike. Niehaus made that moment seem like it was a World Series game. Niehaus was the master of making a regular season game in a lost season seem like a big meaningful game. Niehaus was great at describing the few highs of the franchise in the 80's that saw the Mariners lose and lose again. In fact from 1977-1990 Niehaus saw the Mariners never have a winning season and lose over 100 games three times. Then the 1990's came and whole nation finally found out who Dave Niehaus was.

In the 1990's the Mariners finally had players that the national audience had heard of. First Niehaus called the Mariners first ever no hitter when a 6'10" wild pitcher named Randy Johnson no-hit the Tigers in 1990. Then Niehaus called the first ever winning season 1991 when the team defeated Texas. Niehaus in the 1990's was calling the career of Ken Griffey Jr and all his magical home runs and defensive plays. Niehaus was there for when Edgar won both his batting crowns or when the Big Unit controlled his wild ways to become the games greatest pitcher. Niehaus called the Bosio no-hitter I still remember his call "A high chopper over the mound, Vizquel bare hands its and throws him out! Bosio has thrown a no-hitter!". Then he was quick to point out what Buhner had done when Ron Fairly made the call interupting him going "Not only that he becomes the first Mariner in history to hit for the cycle! MY OH MY!". Then came the magical season of 1995 where Niehaus made his name.

In 1995 the Mariners were 13 games back of the California Angels then in August of 1995 Ken Griffey Jr returned from his injury. On August 24th against the New York Yankees the Mariners had tied the score at seven in the bottom of the ninth which set up Ken Griffey Jr at the plate. I remember listening in the summer Niehaus call like it was yesterday "There goes Joey on the pitch, Swung on and Belted deep to right field and the Mariners win it 9-7 My oh my!". Later in the year in September against the Oakland A's with the Mariners trailing 8-7 facing hall of fame closer Dennis Eckersley I remember Niehaus call when Tino Martinez hit the game winning home run "Sung on and belted to deep right field and the Mariners win it 9-8 in perhaps the Mariners greatest victory in their history!". The Magical run of 1995 set up the one game playoff against the Angles.

The Mariners led by the terrific pitching of Randy Johnson and the clutch hitting by Louis Sojo led 9-1 entering the ninth. With Johnson facing Tim Salmon and two outs and two strikes Niehaus just loses it "And the 0-2 pitch STRIKE THREE THE GAME IS OVER RIGHT OVER THE HEART OF THE PLATE! RANDY LOOKS TO THE SKY IN THE DOME AND BEDLAM 19 LONG YEARS OF FRUSTRATION IS OVER! The Mariners are celebrating like they have won the World Series, they haven't yet but maybe they will!" Everyone who was a Mariners fan was so happy for Niehaus especially who had witness crappy baseball and finally he was getting a taste of the postseason.

In game four of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees it was in the bottom of the eighth inning and the game was tied at 6-6. Up to the plate was Edgar Martinez facing John Wettland who gave up the home run to Griffey earlier in the year. Niehaus again explodes and I remember watching the game on TV while listening to him on radio. His call was terrific "Wettland winds and the O-2 pitch to Edgar Martinez fastball swung on and hit to deep centerfield Bernie looks up and it will FLY AWAY! GET OUT THE RYE BREAD AND THE MUSTARD GRANDMA! IT IS GRAND SALAMI TIME! EDGAR MARTINEZ GIVES THE MARINERS THE LEAD 10-6!".

That game four win set up a must win game five. The Mariners rallied from a 4-2 deficet in the eighth inning as David Cone who had thrown 147 pitches walked the last two batters to walk in the tying run. Then in the ninth Norm Charlton who had already pitched two innings left with first and second nobody out. The call by Niehaus gives me chills to this day when explaining Randy Johnson coming in out of the bullpen on one day's rest. "Lou can go to the Big Unit and thats fine but you have to wonder how much he has left. He pitched 125 pitches on friday and THERE GOING TO GET THE BIG UNIT LISTEN TO THIS (PA announcer with "welcome to the Jungle playing" now pitching Randy Johnson, crowd erupts) LISTEN TO THIS THERE BRINGING IN CY YOUNG HIMSELF". Johnson got out of the jam but in his third inning of work gave up a run to give the Yankees a 5-4 lead heading into the 11th. The Mariners then had first and third nobody out for Edgar Martinez where Niehaus had a bit of some forshadowing.

"Right now the Mariners are looking for the tie, they'll take a fly ball they'd love a base hit in the gap and win it with Junior's speed. And the 0-1 pitch to Edgar Martinez now is LINE DOWN THE LEFT FIELD FOR A BASE HIT, HERE COMES JOEY HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE THERE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE LATE! THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! I DON'T BELIEVE IT! IT JUST CONTINUES! MY OH MY! EDGAR MARTINEZ WITH THE DOUBLE!" screamed at the top of his lungs by Dave Niehaus. The Mariners would lose to the Indians in the American League Championship Series four games to two but the franchise had finally arrived. The following season probably from all that excited Niehaus had a heart attack and was forced to miss the month of September as the Mariners had another great comeback in the division but would fall just short in 1996.

In 1997 the Mariners set a major league record that still stands today with the most homeruns by a franchise in a single season. So you heard a ton of "Swung on and belted!" by Dave Niehaus. Then when the Mariners had a chance to clinch the division title Niehaus called the final out with Heathcliff Slocumb "The is SWING AND A MISS! LET THE PARTY BEGIN!". The Mariners would suffer the next two seasons with losing years but in 2000 would provide another moment for Niehaus in which again he forshadowed the moment.

I had a walk man back in 2000 for game three of the ALDS against the Chicago White Sox but this was before football practice. I was on the freshman football team since it was my freshman year and practice had ended. The Mariners were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth and a win would clinch the series. "Right now the Mariners will pinch hit Carlos Guillen, you have to wonder what Lou has up his sleeve possibly a suicide squeeze." At that point I"m relaying word for word what he is saying to some of the people on my team who liked baseball. "Guillen bunts the ball! HERE COMES HENDERSON AND THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES! Carlos Guillen with the suicide squeeze advances the Mariners to the American League Championship series!". Yes Dave was one of a kind then the next season he saw the franchise reach heights it had never reached before. At the all-star game he got to call the Home Run derby that you can still hear his voice in the background when they replay the 2001 home run derby. Then later in the year facing former Mariner Alex Rodriguez the Mariners had already won 115 games and led 1-0 Niehaus had another terrific call " Here comes the pitch for Sasaki swing and a miss! Wilson hangs on! THE MARINERS HAVE WON 116 GAMES! NO TEAM IN MAJOR LEAGUE HISTORY HAS EVER WON MORE GAMES!".

Unfortunetly for Niehaus he saw the team come full circle at the end of his career losing 100 games twice and lose 99 in 2004 but in 2004 provided Niehaus his last famous great call. Ichiro was chasing down a record that was set in 1920 from George Sissler for hits in a season. Niehaus like he did his whole career captured that moment "Ichiro with a ground ball up the middle! He is the new all-time hits king in major league history with 258! MY OH MY!".

Then during another 100 loss season Niehaus was finally elected to the baseball hall of fame in 2008. Niehaus was the first person in Seattle Mariners history to reach the baseball hall of fame. The Mariners have had Ken Griffey Jr, Alex Rodriguez, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Ichiro and now Felix Hernandez who Niehaus has called all their great moments made the hall of fame first. My dad tells me stories how he was working night shift in the 1980's listening to terrible baseball every night. I asked him why he would torture himself and his answer was simple "Dave Niehaus". The Mariners will never have an announcer ever like Niehaus, while Rick Rizz comes close since he has been here a long time there is only one Dave. I'm sad that Niehaus never got to call a World Series game but he did get to be the play by play announcer on a team who won 116 games which you won't ever see happen again. We'll all miss you Dave Niehaus and may you rest in peace. This is a sad day my oh my!