# 1989 Seattle Mariners season

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.
* In spring training, Ken Griffey Jr. set preseason team records for hits (32), RBIs (20) and total bases (49).

## Regular season

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

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Oakland Athletics | 99 | 63 | .611 | — | 54‍–‍27 | 45‍–‍36 |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | 7 | 55‍–‍26 | 37‍–‍44 |
| California Angels | 91 | 71 | .562 | 8 | 52‍–‍29 | 39‍–‍42 |
| Texas Rangers | 83 | 79 | .512 | 16 | 45‍–‍36 | 38‍–‍43 |
| Minnesota Twins | 80 | 82 | .494 | 19 | 45‍–‍36 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Seattle Mariners | 73 | 89 | .451 | 26 | 40‍–‍41 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Chicago White Sox | 69 | 92 | .429 | 29½ | 35‍–‍45 | 34‍–‍47 |

### Record vs. opponents

1989 American League recordvte 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: Steve Balboni was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dana Ridenour (minors).
* 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. The Mariners completed the deal by sending Mike Campbell to the Expos on July 31.
* June 5: Brian Turang was drafted by the Mariners in the 51st round of the 1989 amateur draft.
* June 12: Steve Trout was released by the Mariners.

### Major league debuts

* Batters:
** Ken Griffey Jr. (Apr 3)
** Omar Vizquel (Apr 3)
* Pitchers:
** Gene Harris (Apr 5)
** Clint Zavaras (June 3)

### Roster
## 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

#### 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: