2004 Seattle Mariners season

The Seattle Mariners 2004 season was their 28th, and they finished last in the American League West at This was their first losing season since 1999, and their first time finishing last in their division since 1992. Ichiro Suzuki set the major league record for hits in a season on October 1, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old mark with a pair of early singles.

Offseason

December 15, 2003: Quinton McCracken was traded by the Arizona Diamondbacks to the Mariners for Greg Colbrunn and cash.
December 19, 2003: Scott Spiezio was signed as a free agent.

Regular season

At the All-Star Break, the Mariners had lost nine straight and were at 17 games behind the division-leading Texas Rangers.
On October 1, Ichiro Suzuki set the major league record for hits, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old mark with a pair of early singles. It was his 258th hit of the season. Later in the game, Suzuki got another hit, giving him 259 this season and a major league-leading.373 average. Fireworks exploded after Suzuki's big hit reached the outfield, creating a haze over Safeco Field, and his teammates mobbed him at first base. The crowd of 45,573 was the ninth sellout this season. After the record breaking hit, Suzuki ran to the first-base seats, bowed respectfully and then shook hands with Sisler's 81-year-old daughter, Frances Sisler Drochelman, and other members of the Hall of Famer's family. Fans in downtown Tokyo watched Suzuki in sports bars and on big-screen monitors. Seattle's hitting coach that season was Paul Molitor. Sisler set the hits record in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns over a 154-game schedule. Suzuki broke it in the Mariners' 160th game. Suzuki's hit came off Ryan Drese, boosting Suzuki to 10-for-20 lifetime against him. Suzuki's sixth-inning infield single came off John Wasdin. After Suzuki's 258th hit, he scored his 100th run of the season when the Mariners batted around in the third, taking a 6–2 lead on six hits. Suzuki's first-inning single was his 919th hit in the majors, breaking the record for most hits over a four-year span. Bill Terry of the New York Giants set the previous record of 918 hits from 1929 to 1932. Suzuki has 921 hits in four seasons.

Draft

In the 2004 Major League Baseball draft, the Mariners selected Matt Tuiasosopo in the third round for their first pick overall. Out of the 48 players selected by the Mariners in 2004, 5 have played in Major League Baseball including Tuiasosopo, Rob Johnson, Mark Lowe, Michael Saunders, and James Russell.

Transactions

June 9: Quinton McCracken was released.
July 23: John Olerud was released.
August 6: Bill Pulsipher was purchased by the Seattle Mariners from the Long Island Ducks.
September 13: Bill Pulsipher was released.

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	103	319	80	.251	2	33
1B	John Olerud	78	261	64	.245	5	22
2B	Bret Boone	148	593	149	.251	24	83
SS	Rich Aurilia	73	261	63	.241	4	28
3B	Scott Spiezio	112	367	79	.215	10	41
LF	Raúl Ibañez	123	481	146	.304	16	62
CF	Randy Winn	157	626	179	.286	14	81
RF	Ichiro Suzuki	161	704	262	.372	8	60
DH	Edgar Martínez	141	486	128	.263	12	63

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
Jolbert Cabrera	113	359	97	.270	6	47
José López	57	207	48	.232	5	22
Willie Bloomquist	93	188	46	.245	2	18
Bucky Jacobsen	42	160	44	.275	9	28
Miguel Olivo	50	160	32	.200	6	14
Justin Leone	31	102	22	.216	6	13
Hiram Bocachica	50	90	22	..244	3	6
Dave Hansen	57	78	22	.282	2	12
Jeremy Reed	18	58	23	.397	0	5
Greg Dobbs	18	53	12	.226	1	9
Pat Borders	19	53	10	.189	1	5
Ramón Santiago	19	39	7	.179	0	2
Ben Davis	14	33	3	.091	0	2
Quinton McCracken	19	20	3	.150	0	0
Mickey Lopez	6	4	1	.250	0	0
René Rivera	2	3	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
Jamie Moyer	34	202.0	7	13	5.21	125
Ryan Franklin	32	200.1	4	16	4.90	104
Joel Piñeiro	21	140.2	6	11	4.67	111
Gil Meche	23	127.2	7	7	5.01	99
Freddy García	15	107.0	4	7	3.20	82
Bobby Madritsch	15	88.0	6	3	3.27	60
Travis Blackley	6	26.0	1	3	10.04	16

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
Ron Villone	56	117.0	8	6	4.08	86
Clint Nageotte	12	36.2	1	6	7.36	24
Cha-Seung Baek	7	31.0	2	4	5.52	20

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
Eddie Guardado	41	2	2	18	2.78	45
Shigetoshi Hasegawa	68	4	6	0	5.16	46
J.J. Putz	54	0	3	9	4.71	47
Mike Myers	50	4	1	0	4.88	23
Julio Mateo	45	1	2	1	4.68	43
Scott Atchison	25	2	3	0	3.52	36
George Sherrill	21	2	1	0	3.80	16
Matt Thornton	19	1	2	0	4.13	30
Kevin Jarvis	8	1	0	0	8.31	7
Masao Kida	7	0	0	0	8.38	5
Randy Williams	6	0	0	0	5.79	4
Rafael Soriano	6	0	3	0	13.50	3
Aaron Taylor	5	0	0	0	9.82	4

Awards and honors

Edgar Martínez, Designated Hitter, Roberto Clemente Award

Major League Baseball draft

The following is a list of 2004 Seattle Mariners draft picks. The Mariners took part in the June regular draft, also known as the Rule 4 draft. The Mariners made 48 selections in the 2004 draft, the first being shortstop Matt Tuiasosopo in the third round. In all, the Mariners selected 18 pitchers, 13 outfielders, 6 catchers, 6 shortstops, 3 first basemen, 1 third baseman, and 1 second baseman.