Complex sentence: The Mariners showed some life that season and almost reached.500 in 1987, but it soon became apparent that Williams' sarcasm and refusal to tolerate mental mistakes would no longer play with a new generation of ballplayers.
Split into simpler sentences: The Mariners showed some life that season and almost reached.500 the following season. However, Williams' sarcasm and refusal to tolerate mental mistakes no longer played with the new generation of ballplayers.