1989 Seattle Mariners season

The 1989 Seattle Mariners season was their 13th since the franchise creation, and the team finished 6th place in the American League West Division, with a record of. 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 1st overall pick of the 1987 Major League Baseball

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, RBIs and total bases.

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, at $7.6 million.
Owner George Argyros sold the team in August to a group headed by Indianapolis communications magnate Jeff Smulyan.

Notable transactions

March 27: Steve Balboni was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Dana Ridenour.
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

Player stats

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

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