1989 Seattle Mariners season

1989 Seattle Mariners
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Kingdome
City	Seattle, Washington
Record	73–89 (.451)
Divisional place	6th
Owners	George Argyros Jeff Smulyan (August)
General managers	Woody Woodward
Managers	Jim Lefebvre
Television	KSTW-TV 11
Radio	KIRO 710 AM (Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Joe Simpson)
← 1988 Seasons 1990 →

The 1989 Seattle Mariners season was their 13th since the franchise creation, and the team finished sixth in the American League West, with a record of 73–89 (.451). The Mariners were led by first-year manager Jim Lefebvre and the season was enlivened by the arrival of nineteen-year-old Ken Griffey Jr., the first overall pick of the 1987 draft.

Offseason

• November 15, 1988: Luis DeLeón was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.^[1]
• In spring training, Ken Griffey Jr. set preseason team records for hits (32), RBIs (20) and total bases (49).^[2]

Regular season

• Ken Griffey Jr. made his major league baseball debut on opening day, April 3, against the defending American League champion Oakland Athletics.^[3][4] Griffey hit a double in his first at-bat.^[2][3] During the 1989 season, Griffey was honored by being selected as card number one in the 1989 Upper Deck baseball card set.^[2]
• The Mariners had the lowest payroll in the majors in 1989, at $7.6 million.^[5]
• Owner George Argyros sold the team in August to a group headed by Indianapolis communications magnate Jeff Smulyan.^[6][7][8]

Season standings

v t e AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	99	63	0.611	—	54–27	45–36
Kansas City Royals	92	70	0.568	7	55–26	37–44
California Angels	91	71	0.562	8	52–29	39–42
Texas Rangers	83	79	0.512	16	45–36	38–43
Minnesota Twins	80	82	0.494	19	45–36	35–46
Seattle Mariners	73	89	0.451	26	40–41	33–48
Chicago White Sox	69	92	0.429	29½	35–45	34–47

Record vs. opponents

1989 American League record v t e Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	6–7	6–6	6–6	7–6	10–3	6–6	7–6	4–8	8–5	5–7	6–6	9–3	7–6
Boston	7–6	—	4–8	7–5	8–5	11–2	4–8	6–7	6–6	7–6	7–5	5–7	6–6	5–8
California	6–6	8–4	—	8–5	5–7	11–1	4–9	7–5	11–2	6–6	5–8	7–6	6–7	7–5
Chicago	6–6	5–7	5–8	—	7–5	4–8	6–7	10–2	5–8	5–6	5–8	7–6	3–10	1–11
Cleveland	6–7	5–8	7–5	5–7	—	5–8	8–4	3–10	5–7	9–4	2–10	6–6	7–5	5–8
Detroit	3–10	2–11	1–11	8–4	8–5	—	6–6	6–7	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–8	4–8	2–11
Kansas City	6–6	8–4	9–4	7–6	4–8	6–6	—	8–4	7–6	6–6	7–6	9–4	8–5	7–5
Milwaukee	6–7	7–6	5–7	2–10	10–3	7–6	4–8	—	9–3	8–5	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Minnesota	8–4	6–6	2–11	8–5	7–5	7–5	6–7	3–9	—	6–6	6–7	7–6	5–8	9–3
New York	5–8	6–7	6–6	6–5	4–9	7–6	6–6	5–8	6–6	—	3–9	8–4	5–7	7–6
Oakland	7–5	5–7	8–5	8–5	10–2	8–4	6–7	7–5	7–6	9–3	—	9–4	8–5	7–5
Seattle	6–6	7–5	6–7	6–7	6–6	8–4	4–9	5–7	6–7	4–8	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	3–9	6–6	7–6	10–3	5–7	8–4	5–8	7–5	8–5	7–5	5–8	7–6	—	5–7
Toronto	6–7	8–5	5–7	11–1	8–5	11–2	5–7	7–6	3–9	6–7	5–7	7–5	7–5	—

Notable transactions

• March 27: Steve Balboni was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minors).^[9]
• May 25: Mark Langston and a player to be named later were traded by the Mariners to the Montreal Expos for Randy Johnson, Brian Holman, and Gene Harris.^[10][11] The Mariners completed the deal by sending Mike Campbell to the Expos on July 31.^[12]
• June 5: Brian Turang was drafted by the Mariners in the 51st round of the 1989 amateur draft.^[13]
• June 12: Steve Trout was released by the Mariners.^[14]

Major league debuts

• Batters:
  • Ken Griffey Jr. (Apr 3)
  • Omar Vizquel (Apr 3)
• Pitchers:
  • Gene Harris (Apr 5)
  • Clint Zavaras (June 3) ^[15]

Roster

1989 Seattle Mariners
Roster
Pitchers 15 Scott Bankhead 27 Mike Campbell 34 Keith Comstock 52 Luis DeLeón 25 Mike Dunne 39 Erik Hanson 47 Gene Harris 36 Brian Holman 38 Mike Jackson 51 Randy Johnson 12 Mark Langston 49 Tom Niedenfuer 48 Dennis Powell 31 Jerry Reed 40 Mike Schooler 37 Julio Solano 18 Bill Swift 34 Steve Trout 41 Clint Zavaras		Catchers  9 Scott Bradley 35 Bill McGuire 10 Dave Valle Infielders 43 Dave Cochrane 21 Alvin Davis 23 Mario Díaz 11 Edgar Martínez 17 Jim Presley 51 Rey Quiñones  4 Harold Reynolds 42,13 Omar Vizquel		Outfielders  8 Greg Briley 14 Mickey Brantley 19 Jay Buhner  2 Darnell Coles 28 Henry Cotto 29 Bruce Fields 24 Ken Griffey Jr.  7 Mike Kingery Other Batters 00 Jeffrey Leonard 54 Jim Wilson		Manager  5 Jim Lefebvre Coaches 42 Gene Clines (hitting)  6 Bob Didier (bullpen) 22 Rusty Kuntz (first base) 20 Mike Paul (pitching)  3 Bill Plummer (third base)

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; R = Runs scored; H = Hits; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in; Avg. = Batting average; SB = Stolen bases

Pos	Player	G	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	Avg.	SB
C	Dave Valle	94	316	32	75	7	34	.237	0
1B	Alvin Davis	142	498	84	152	21	95	.305	0
2B	Harold Reynolds	153	613	87	184	0	43	.300	25
3B	Jim Presley	117	390	42	92	12	41	.236	0
SS	Omar Vizquel	143	387	45	85	1	20	.220	1
LF	Greg Briley	115	394	52	105	13	52	.266	11
CF	Ken Griffey Jr.	127	455	61	120	16	61	.264	16
RF	Darnell Coles	146	535	54	135	10	59	.252	5
DH	Jeffrey Leonard	150	566	69	144	24	93	.254	6

Source^[16]

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
Henry Cotto	100	295	78	.264	9	33
Scott Bradley	103	270	74	.274	3	37
Jay Buhner	58	204	56	.275	9	33
Edgar Martínez	65	171	41	.240	2	20
Mickey Brantley	34	108	17	.157	0	8
Dave Cochrane	54	102	24	.235	3	7
Mike Kingery	31	76	17	.224	2	6
Mario Díaz	52	74	10	.135	1	7
Bill McGuire	14	28	5	.179	1	4
Rey Quiñones	7	19	2	.105	0	0
Jim Wilson	5	8	0	.000	0	0
Bruce Fields	3	3	1	.333	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
Scott Bankhead	33	210.1	14	6	3.34	140
Brian Holman	23	159.2	8	10	3.44	82
Randy Johnson	22	131.0	7	9	4.40	104
Erik Hanson	17	113.1	9	5	3.18	75
Mike Dunne	15	85.1	2	9	5.27	38
Mark Langston	10	73.1	4	5	3.56	60
Clint Zavaras	10	52.0	1	6	5.19	31
Luis DeLeón	1	4.0	0	0	2.25	2

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
Bill Swift	37	130.0	7	3	4.43	45
Gene Harris	10	33.1	1	4	6.48	14
Mike Campbell	5	21.0	1	2	7.29	6

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
Mike Schooler	67	1	7	33	2.81	69
Mike Jackson	65	4	6	7	3.17	94
Jerry Reed	52	7	7	0	3.19	50
Dennis Powell	43	2	2	2	5.00	27
Keith Comstock	31	1	2	0	2.81	22
Tom Niedenfuer	25	0	3	0	6.69	15
Steve Trout	19	4	3	0	6.60	17
Julio Solano	7	0	0	0	5.59	6

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Calgary Cannons	Pacific Coast League	Rich Morales
AA	Williamsport Bills	Eastern League	Jay Ward
A	San Bernardino Spirit	California League	Ralph Dick
A	Wausau Timbers	Midwest League	Tommy Jones
A-Short Season	Bellingham Mariners	Northwest League	P. J. Carey
Rookie	AZL Mariners	Arizona League	Dave Myers

Source:^[17]

References

External links

• 1989 Seattle Mariners at Baseball Reference.com
• 1989 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com