1989 Seattle Mariners season

The Seattle Mariners 1989 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.

1989 Seattle Mariners
Ken Griffey Jr's Rookie Season
Randy Johnson's first season with the Mariners
Major League affiliations
Location
Results
Record73–89 (.451)
Divisional place6th
Other information
Owner(s)George Argyros
Jeff Smulyan (August)
General manager(s)Woody Woodward
Manager(s)Jim Lefebvre
Local televisionKSTW-TV 11
Local radioKIRO 710 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs,
Joe Simpson)
< Previous season     Next season >

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 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 Jeff Smulyan of Indianapolis.[6][7][8]

Season standings
AL West W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 9963 0.611 — 54–27 45–36
Kansas City Royals 9270 0.568 7 55–26 37–44
California Angels 9171 0.562 8 52–29 39–42
Texas Rangers 8379 0.512 16 45–36 38–43
Minnesota Twins 8082 0.494 19 45–36 35–46
Seattle Mariners 7389 0.451 26 40–41 33–48
Chicago White Sox 6992 0.429 29½ 35–45 34–47

Record vs. opponents
1989 American League Records

Sources:
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore —6–76–66–67–610–36–67–64–88–55–76–69–37–6
Boston 7–6—4–87–58–511–24–86–76–67–67–55–76–65–8
California 6–68–4—8–55–711–14–97–511–26–65–87–66–77–5
Chicago 6–65–75–8—7–54–86–710–25–85–65–87–63–101–11
Cleveland 6–75–87–55–7—5–88–43–105–79–42–106–67–55–8
Detroit 3–102–111–118–48–5—6–66–75–76–74–84–84–82–11
Kansas City 6–68–49–47–64–86–6—8–47–66–67–69–48–57–5
Milwaukee 6–77–65–72–1010–37–64–8—9–38–55–77–55–76–7
Minnesota 8–46–62–118–57–57–56–73–9—6–66–77–65–89–3
New York 5–86–76–66–54–97–66–65–86–6—3–98–45–77–6
Oakland 7–55–78–58–510–28–46–77–57–69–3—9–48–57–5
Seattle 6–67–56–76–76–68–44–95–76–74–84–9—6–75–7
Texas 3–96–67–610–35–78–45–87–58–57–55–87–6—5–7
Toronto 6–78–55–711–18–511–25–77–63–96–75–77–57–5—

Notable transactions

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 Catchers

Infielders

 Outfielders

Other Batters

 Manager

Coaches

Player stats
= Indicates team leader

Starters by position

Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In

Pos Player G AB R H HR RBI Avg. SB
CDave Valle943163275734.2370
1BAlvin Davis142498841522195.3050
2BHarold Reynolds15361387184043.30025
3BJim Presley11739042921241.2360
SSOmar Vizquel1433874585120.2201
LFGreg Briley115394521051352.26611
CFKen Griffey, Jr.127455611201661.26416
RFDarnell Coles146535541351059.2525
DHJeffrey Leonard150566691442493.2546
Source[16]

Other batters
Player G AB H Avg. HR RBI
Henry Cotto10029578.264933
Jay Buhner5820456.275933

Starting pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO
Luis DeLeón14002.252

Other pitchers
Player G IP W L ERA SO BB

Relief pitchers
Player G IP W L SV ERA SO

Farm system
See also: Minor League Baseball
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
  1. Luis DeLeón page at Baseball Reference
  2. Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American Obsession, p.167, Dave Jamieson, 2010, Atlantic Monthly Press, imprint of Grove/Atlantic Inc., New York, ISBN 978-0-8021-1939-1
  3. "McGwire spoils M's opener, 3-2". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. April 4, 1993. p. C1.
  4. https://www.baseball-reference.com/g/griffke02.shtml
  5. "Signing of O'Brien heralds loose purse string for M's". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). Associated Press. December 8, 1989. p. C1.
  6. Cour, Jim (August 23, 1989). "Can owners improve M's". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. p. C1.
  7. "M's sold but will stay at Seattle". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. August 23, 1989. p. 1C.
  8. Kelley, Steve (August 24, 1989). "M's owners wear Letterman jackets". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). (Seattle Times). p. C1.
  9. Steve Balboni page at Baseball Reference
  10. "Mariners trade ace Langston to Expos". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. May 26, 1989. p. 4D.
  11. LaRue, Larry (May 26, 1989). "Mariners excited about pitchers they're getting". Spokane Chronicle. (Washington). McClatchy News Service. p. B3.
  12. Mark Langston page at Baseball Reference
  13. Brian Turankg page at Baseball Reference
  14. Steve Trout page at Baseball Reference
  15. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/1989/26.shtml
  16. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-10.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  17. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007
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