1996 Seattle Mariners season
The 1996 Seattle Mariners season was the 20th season in franchise history, and the team was the runner-up in American League West, with a record of 4½ games behind the champion Texas Rangers. The Mariners led the majors in runs, doubles, runs batted in, and slugging percentage, but the pitching staff had the highest earned run average in team history. Four Mariners scored at least 100 runs and four drove in at least 100 runs. In their game against the Kansas City Royals on May 11, the Mariners set a franchise record of 12 extra-base hits.
Offseason
- November 29, 1995: Mike Blowers was traded by the Mariners to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Willis Otañez and Miguel Cairo.
- January 23, 1996: Aaron Small was selected off waivers by the Mariners from the Florida Marlins.
- January 29, 1996: Aaron Small was selected off waivers from the Mariners by the Oakland Athletics.
- March 25, 1996: Ricky Jordan was purchased by the Mariners from the California Angels.
Regular season
Detailed records
| Month | Games | Won | Lost | Win % | ||
| March | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| April | 25 | 15 | 10 | 164 | 138 | |
| May | 26 | 12 | 14 | 159 | 151 | |
| June | 26 | 14 | 12 | 173 | 163 | |
| July | 28 | 16 | 12 | 176 | 157 | |
| August | 29 | 12 | 17 | 158 | 163 | |
| September | 26 | 15 | 11 | 160 | 121 | |
| Total | 161 | 85 | 76 | 993 | 895 |
Notable transactions
- April 13, 1996: Félix Fermín was released by the Mariners.
- June 4, 1996: 1996 Major League Baseball draft
- *Gil Meche was drafted by the Mariners in the 1st round. Player signed June 9, 1996.
- *Juan Pierre was drafted by the Mariners in the 48th round, but did not sign.
- *Sean Spencer was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 40th round of the 1996 amateur draft. Player signed August 26, 1996.
- August 1, 1996: Greg Pirkl was selected off waivers from the Mariners by the Boston Red Sox.
- August 14, 1996: Roger Blanco was traded by the Mariners to the Atlanta Braves for Mark Whiten.
- August 22, 1996: Luis Sojo was selected off waivers from the Mariners by the New York Yankees.
- August 29, 1996: The Mariners traded a player to be named later to the Minnesota Twins for Dave Hollins. The Mariners completed the deal by sending David Ortiz to the Twins on September 13.
Player stats
Batting
Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Dan Wilson | 138 | 491 | 140 | .285 | 18 | 83 |
| 1B | Paul Sorrento | 143 | 471 | 136 | .289 | 23 | 93 |
| 2B | Joey Cora | 144 | 530 | 154 | .291 | 6 | 45 |
| SS | Alex Rodriguez | 146 | 601 | 215 | .358 | 36 | 123 |
| 3B | Russ Davis | 51 | 167 | 39 | .234 | 5 | 18 |
| LF | Rich Amaral | 118 | 312 | 91 | .292 | 1 | 29 |
| CF | Ken Griffey Jr. | 140 | 545 | 165 | .303 | 49 | 140 |
| RF | Jay Buhner | 150 | 564 | 153 | .271 | 44 | 138 |
| DH | Edgar Martínez | 139 | 499 | 163 | .327 | 26 | 103 |
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 |
| Luis Sojo | 77 | 247 | 52 | .211 | 1 | 16 |
| Brian Hunter | 75 | 198 | 53 | .268 | 7 | 28 |
| Darren Bragg | 69 | 195 | 53 | .272 | 7 | 25 |
| Doug Strange | 88 | 183 | 43 | .235 | 3 | 23 |
| Mark Whiten | 40 | 140 | 42 | .300 | 12 | 33 |
| Andy Sheets | 47 | 110 | 21 | .191 | 0 | 9 |
| John Marzano | 41 | 106 | 26 | .245 | 0 | 6 |
| Dave Hollins | 28 | 94 | 33 | .351 | 3 | 25 |
| Alex Diaz | 38 | 79 | 19 | .241 | 1 | 5 |
| Jeff Manto | 21 | 54 | 10 | .185 | 1 | 4 |
| Ricky Jordan | 15 | 28 | 7 | .250 | 1 | 4 |
| Greg Pirkl | 7 | 21 | 4 | .190 | 1 | 1 |
| Manny Martinez | 9 | 17 | 4 | .235 | 0 | 3 |
| Chris Widger | 8 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 |
| Raúl Ibañez | 4 | 5 | 0 | .000 | 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 |
| Sterling Hitchcock | 35 | 196.2 | 13 | 9 | 5.35 | 132 |
| Bob Wolcott | 30 | 149.1 | 7 | 10 | 5.73 | 78 |
| Matt Wagner | 15 | 80.0 | 3 | 5 | 6.86 | 41 |
| Jamie Moyer | 11 | 70.2 | 6 | 2 | 3.31 | 29 |
| Terry Mulholland | 12 | 69.1 | 5 | 4 | 4.67 | 34 |
| Tim Harikkala | 1 | 4.1 | 0 | 1 | 12.46 | 1 |
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 |
| Bob Wells | 36 | 130.2 | 12 | 7 | 5.30 | 94 |
| Randy Johnson | 14 | 61.1 | 5 | 0 | 3.67 | 85 |
| Chris Bosio | 18 | 60.2 | 4 | 4 | 5.93 | 39 |
| Salomón Torres | 10 | 49.0 | 3 | 3 | 4.59 | 36 |
| Edwin Hurtado | 16 | 47.2 | 2 | 5 | 7.74 | 36 |
| Rusty Meacham | 15 | 42.1 | 1 | 1 | 5.74 | 25 |
| Paul Menhart | 11 | 42.0 | 2 | 2 | 7.29 | 18 |
| Bob Milacki | 7 | 21.0 | 1 | 4 | 6.86 | 13 |
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 |
| Norm Charlton | 70 | 4 | 7 | 20 | 4.04 | 73 |
| Mike Jackson | 73 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3.63 | 70 |
| Rafael Carmona | 53 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 4.28 | 62 |
| Bobby Ayala | 50 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5.88 | 61 |
| Tim Davis | 40 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4.01 | 34 |
| Lee Guetterman | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4.09 | 6 |
| Blas Minor | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4.97 | 14 |
| Greg McCarthy | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.86 | 7 |
| Scott Ray Davison | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 9 |
| Joe Klink | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.86 | 2 |
| Mac Suzuki | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 20.25 | 1 |
Awards and honors
Alex Rodriguez became the first shortstop in 56 years to win the American League Batting Crown.- Alex Rodriguez, American League Batting Champion