50 Fun Facts About Seattle Mariners

In which year did the Mariners join the American League as an expansion team?

The Blue Jays arrived in the same expansion. Seattle's earlier team, the Pilots, had lasted a single season in 1969.

The Mariners franchise was created as the result of what?

After Bud Selig moved the Pilots to Milwaukee in 1970, the city, King County and Washington state sued the American League for breach of contract.

Which future US senator, then state attorney general, led the legal action that created the Mariners?

He was state attorney general at the time. King County built the Kingdome confident that baseball would return.

Roughly how many names were submitted in the 1976 'name the team' contest that produced 'Mariners'?

The winning entry came from Roger Szmodis of Bellevue, whom the club was never able to reach to hand over his prize.

What is the Mariners' mascot?

The team's nickname, the M's, appeared in its primary logo from 1987 to 1992.

Which three colours has the team worn since 1993?

The teal shade is officially named 'Northwest Green'. Royal blue and gold, the original colours, live on in alternate uniforms.

The 'M' in the original 1977 'Mariners' jersey wordmark was shaped to resemble what?

The gold trident also served as the cap logo, and a version with a white star background debuted for the 1979 All-Star Game.

Who hit the first home run in Mariners history, in April 1977?

The DH connected in the team's fifth game. That season the Mariners went 64–98, exactly the 1969 Pilots' record.

Which pitcher is the only player to have played for both the Seattle Pilots and the Mariners?

He pitched for the 1977 Mariners in his final major-league season, eight years after the Pilots' lone campaign.

How many seasons did the Mariners play before posting their first winning record?

The first winning team came in 1991. Along the way the Kingdome hosted the 50th All-Star Game in 1979.

Which video-game company bought the Mariners after the 1992 season?

CEO Hiroshi Yamauchi took a 49 percent share despite never having attended a baseball game; he wanted to thank Seattle for its role in the company's success.

Owner Jeff Smulyan proposed moving the Mariners to which city in 1992 before selling the team?

Smulyan's group had bought the club from George Argyros in 1989 for $76 million.

Which manager led the Mariners for a decade from 1993 and won two AL Manager of the Year awards?

He had just won the 1990 World Series with Cincinnati. Oddly, the Pilots had drafted him in 1968 before trading him to Kansas City.

Whose 11th-inning walk-off double scored Ken Griffey Jr. from first to beat the Yankees in Game 5 of the 1995 ALDS?

'The Double' is credited with helping keep baseball in Seattle. Griffey had missed much of that season with a broken wrist.

How did the Mariners clinch their first-ever division title in 1995?

Griffey had broken his wrist crashing into the centre-field wall in May and still returned for the stretch run.

How many games did the Mariners win in 2001, tying the all-time MLB single-season record?

They matched the 1906 Cubs and broke the 1998 Yankees' AL mark of 114, then lost to New York in the ALCS.

In 2001 Ichiro became the first since Fred Lynn in 1975 to win which three honours in one season?

He set the MLB single-season hits record of 262 three years later, in 2004.

Ichiro's 262 hits in 2004 remain a major-league single-season record. What did he bat that year?

His .321 career average with Seattle is the highest in franchise history, and his 2,542 hits and 438 steals are both club records.

Whose right-field seating section at the Mariners' ballpark was nicknamed 'Area 51'?

The number had been withheld after its previous owner left in 1998 and was issued to Ichiro at his request in 2001.

Which two Mariners have both had the No. 51 retired in their honour?

Ichiro's ceremony came in August 2025, days after his Hall of Fame induction; Johnson's followed in May 2026.

What number did Ken Griffey Jr. wear, retired by the Mariners in 2016?

He was elected to the Hall of Fame in January 2016 and holds the club career home-run record with 417.

Edgar's No. 11 was retired in 2017. How many other major-league teams did he play for?

He first appeared on the Hall ballot in 2010, and the number 11 went unissued from his 2004 retirement until he returned as hitting coach in 2015.

Who threw the Mariners' first no-hitter on June 2, 1990, the night the Kingsmen played 'Louie Louie' live?

That night cemented the seventh-inning 'Louie Louie' tradition, which ran through 2021 and returned in remixed form in 2025.

Which song replaced 'Louie Louie' as the seventh-inning song in 2022?

The team stopped playing it after Macklemore's comments at a benefit concert in September 2024.

Which Mariners pitcher threw the franchise's first perfect game, against Tampa Bay on August 15, 2012?

Earlier that season the Mariners had been on the wrong end of Philip Humber's perfect game and had thrown a six-pitcher combined no-hitter.

What was the K-card-waving cheering section for Félix Hernández's home starts called?

Fans held up 'K' cards; when the section expanded to the whole ballpark it was called the Supreme Court.

The 'Maple Grove' fan section, with a potted tree named 'Stick Rizzs', celebrated which Canadian pitcher?

Fans held up 'Eh' cards at two strikes. The Grove ended when he was traded to the Yankees after 2018.

Which 1994 promotion gave a free ticket to any fan willing to have their head shaved before the game?

T-shirts read 'Bald Is Buhnerful'. It was revived for its 30th anniversary in 2024, with Jay Buhner shaving the team's catcher.

Which food tradition did Mariners broadcaster Mike Blowers start in 2007?

The fries usually came from Ivar's, the Seattle seafood restaurant with a stand in the ballpark. The promotion ended in 2012.

Who was the Mariners' play-by-play announcer from 1977 until his death in November 2010?

Macklemore wrote the tribute song 'My Oh My' for him and performed it at the 2011 home opener.

What was T-Mobile Park called from its 1999 opening until 2018?

The first game there was against San Diego on July 15, 1999, before a crowd of 44,607.

In which Seattle neighbourhood is T-Mobile Park located?

The park opened in July 1999, replacing the Kingdome as the team's home.

Through the 2025 season, the Mariners held what unwanted distinction among active MLB franchises?

They came closest in 2025, blowing a 3–1 ALCS lead in the franchise's first ever Game 7.

In which city did the Mariners clinch their 2022 playoff berth with a comeback from 8–1 down?

They won Game 2 of the Wild Card Series 10–9. Julio Rodríguez was AL Rookie of the Year that season.

Game 3 of the 2022 ALDS against Houston, which the Mariners lost, went how many innings?

At 6 hours 22 minutes it was the third-longest postseason game ever by time, and its 18 innings tied the record.

The Mariners' interleague rivalry with an NL West team is named after which musician?

The Pearl Jam frontman claims both cities as hometowns, though he is a Cubs fan. He designed the trophy, which Seattle won in 2025.

The Mariners share their spring-training home in Peoria, Arizona, with which team?

The Peoria Sports Complex has been home since 1993; before that the team trained at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

Which catcher set the Mariners' single-season home run record with 60 in 2025?

Griffey's 147 RBIs in 1997 and Edgar's four grand slams in 2000 remain club records.

Which pitcher holds the Mariners' single-season strikeout record with 308 in 1993?

Félix owns the career marks for wins (169), strikeouts (2,524) and innings pitched.

Who holds the Mariners' single-season saves record with 57, set in 2018?

Sasaki remains the career saves leader with 129.

Which manager, hired in 2015, led the team back to the playoffs in 2022 before being fired in 2024?

He was replaced by former Mariners catcher Dan Wilson after the team lost a ten-game division lead to Houston.

The 2025 Mariners won the AL West for the first time since 2001. Whom did they beat in the ALDS?

They then led the ALCS 2–0 and 3–1 before losing Game 7 on the road.

Which Hall of Fame pitcher's 2008 Cy Young season with Philadelphia preceded a 2009-10 offseason trade to Seattle?

That same winter the team signed Chone Figgins and extended its ace, then collapsed to a 61–101 record in 2010.

Who led the ownership group that bought the Mariners' controlling stake from its Japanese owner in 2016?

The franchise was valued at $1.4 billion including Root Sports Northwest. The seller kept a ten percent share.

Which Mariners player holds the single-season franchise record for stolen bases, with 60 in 1987?

Ichiro's 438 career steals lead the franchise all-time list.

Alex Rodriguez set two Mariners single-season records in 1996. Which two?

He also holds the club career marks for slugging (.561) and OPS (.934).

The Mariners' original blue-and-gold colour scheme was inherited from which earlier team?

Those colours had travelled with the Pilots to Milwaukee to become the Brewers, and for four seasons the Mariners wore white pullover jerseys.

Which pitcher holds the Mariners' single-season record for wins, with 21 in 2003?

That season the team won 93 games yet missed the playoffs, repeating the frustration of 2002.

Who holds the Mariners' career saves record with 129?

Félix Hernández holds the career strikeout mark with 2,524 and Ichiro the hits record with 2,542.

Who became the Mariners' public address announcer in 1987, starting at the Kingdome?

He occasionally filled in on radio when KOMO was the flagship station; Rick Rizzs later became the primary radio play-by-play voice. He carried on at T-Mobile Park.