Seattle Mariners All-Time Lineup: The Best (and Worst) in M's History

Mosang Miles by Columnist Written on August 11, 2008
Griffey1995_feature
(Page 2 of 4)

That said, Martinez did play 563 games at third base (third-most for Seattle behind Jim Presley and Adrian Beltre), and his offensive stats cannot be denied.  Let's see: first in games played, at bats, runs, hits, doubles, RBI, walks, on-base percentage...not to mention second in homers and batting average.

Martinez was a seven-time All-Star with 2,247 hits and a lifetime batting average of .312. Edgar is widely regarded as a test case for DHs making it into the Hall of Fame.

Honorable Mention: Jim Presley

Dishonorable Mention: Jeff Cirillo.  It was a close call between Cirillo and Russ Davis (he had 69 errors at third base in four Seattle seasons, including 32 in 1998), but at least Davis hit 66 homers as well.

Cirillo joined the Mariners following years of success in Milwaukee and Colorado but immediately stunk it up, hitting just .249 his first year before bottoming out at .205 his second (and final) season in Seattle.  Some players just don't succeed in Safeco Field, and Cirillo is a prime example.

 

Shortstop: Alex Rodriguez

A-Rod is the best shortstop in Mariner history by far despite just five full seasons in a Seattle uniform. In those five years, Alex was a four-time All-Star and finished second to Juan Gonzalez in the 1996 MVP voting by an impossibly narrow margin. Rodriguez's name litters the Mariners' record books: third in batting average, second in slugging and OPS, fourth in home runs, and fifth in runs and RBI.

Alex started his Mariner career consoling a despondent Joey Cora in 1995 and finished it reviled for signing his mega-contract with Texas.  Hey, if anyone deserved the money, it was him.

Honorable Mention: Omar Vizquel

Dishonorable Mention: Carlos Guillen.  This may a bit unfair, but Guillen's mediocre play in Seattle—combined with his stellar work in Detroit after being traded for a pittance—earns him this dubious distinction.

Guillen never hit more than .276 or had  more than 56 RBI for Seattle, all while battling numerous injuries (tuberculosis?).  Of course, the year after being traded, he made the All-Star team.  Typical.

 

RF: Ichiro Suzuki

Randy Johnson. Ken Griffey Jr. Alex Rodriguez. These three superstars departed Seattle in consecutive years (1998-2000). How did the Mariners respond? They signed Ichiro, who sparked the Mariners to their best season ever in 2001, winning MVP and rookie of the year honors in the process.

Ichiro is five hits away from moving into second on the all-time Mariners' hits list after just seven-and-a-half years. He ranks first in triples and stolen bases and third in runs. He set the all-time MLB single-season hits record in 2004.

If you're wondering about a certain bald-headed slugger...bear with me. I'll get to him in a minute.

Honorable Mention: Other than the soon-to-be named career leader in games played in right field, no one.

Dishonorable Mention: I'm drawing a blank.  Does less than a month qualify Brad Wilkerson?

 

CF: Ken Griffey Jr.

(1)
...
Share This  
Crop_45x45
or to post this comment

19 Comments

There are no comments yet. Get the conversation started by leaving the first comment

Loading more comments...
posted just now
  • Loading...
  • Nobody has liked this comment yet
Cancel

This comment and all replies have been deleted This comment has been deleted Undo delete

1,568
reads

19
comments

written on August 11, 2008 Rankings/List

The best Mariners newsletter on the web

Subscribe Now

We will never share your email address


CBS Sports Official Partner
Certain photos copyright © 2009 by Getty Images.
Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Getty Images is strictly prohibited.