1989 Seattle Mariners season

1989 Seattle Mariners
Ken Griffey Jr's Rookie Season
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1977)
Western Division (since 1977)
Location
Kingdome (since 1977)
Seattle, Washington (since 1977)
Other information
Owner(s)	Jeff Smulyan
General manager(s)	Woody Woodward
Manager(s)	Jim Lefebvre
Local television	KSTW-TV 11
Local radio	KIRO 710 AM (Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Joe Simpson)
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The Seattle Mariners 1989 season was their 13th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 6th in the American League West, finishing with a record of 73-89. The season, however, was enlivened by the arrival of the Mariners' 1987 first-round draft pick, Ken Griffey, Jr.

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 April 3, 1989, in a game against the Oakland Athletics.^[3] Griffey would hit a double in his first at-bat.^[2] During the 1989 season, Griffey Jr. was honoured by being selected as card Number 1 in the 1989 Upper Deck baseball card set.^[2]

Season standings

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 Records Sources:
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, 1989: Steve Balboni was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minors).^[4]
• May 25, 1989: 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. The Mariners completed the deal by sending Mike Campbell to the Expos on July 31.^[5]
• June 5, 1989: Brian Turang was drafted by the Mariners in the 51st round of the 1989 amateur draft.^[6]
• June 12, 1989: Steve Trout was released by the Mariners.^[7]

Major league debuts

• Batters:
  • Ken Griffey, Jr. (Apr 3)
  • Omar Vizquel (Apr 3)
• Pitchers:
  • Gene Harris (Apr 5)
  • Clint Zavaras (June 3) ^[8]

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 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: 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
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

^[9]

Other batters

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Henry Cotto	100	295	78	.264	9	33
Jay Buhner	58	204	56	.275	9	33

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Luis DeLeón	1	4	0	0	2.25	2

Other pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO	BB

Relief pitchers

Player	G	IP	W	L	SV	ERA	SO

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

^[10]

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. http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/griffke02.shtml
4. Steve Balboni page at Baseball Reference
5. Mark Langston page at Baseball Reference
6. Brian Turankg page at Baseball Reference
7. Steve Trout page at Baseball Reference
8. http://www.thebaseballcube.com/statistics/1989/26.shtml
9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on February 22, 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-10.
10. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

External links

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