Seattle Mariners
Entered the American League (AL) together with the Toronto Blue Jays, the Seattle Mariners is presently owned by Nintendo of America, the United States auxiliary video game corporation of Japan. The team was actually conceived from a lawsuit. History would render that in 1970, the result of the purchase and transfer of the Milwaukee Pilots by ushered Bud Selig, a baseball commissioner, filed AL a legal charge for breach of contract. Since he was confident that a major tournament of the sport would again visit the metropolis, Kingdome was constructed which eventually supported the expansion of the National Football League (NFL).
In 1976, the lawsuit continued. At one of the hearings, the American League (AL) offered the metropolis a baseball team in exchange of dropping the legal charge. By the following year, “peace negotiations” took place. Since AL also wanted an even number of franchises, the plan pushed through which was now the conception of the Seattle Mariners. The year 1977 was the club’s inaugural seasons which was led by Diego Segui holding the position as pitcher. The line- up of the group was joined by Gaylord Perry, Mark Langston, Alvin Davis, Harold Reynolds and Spike Owen which were all considered as star athletes.
However, even with the aforementioned star athletes, the Seattle Mariners had losing records and inferior performance. In 1990, the team once again experienced an unfavorable season but a year after was a breakthrough. The franchise was managed by Jim Lefebvre where it finished eighty- three to seventy- nine. Even if the year was good for the Mariners, it was not entirely able to rise up the ranks. The club was only in the fifth place in the American League (AL). Not for long, Lefebvre was forced to resign and was replaced by Bill Plummer who looked after the group in 1992 but was also fired that same period after the consecutive losses of ninety- eight.
Bill Plummer was replaced by Lou Piniella who once managed the Cincinnati Reds. His leadership over the Seattle Mariners was much loved that he remained with the team from 1993 through 2002. As a matter of fact, he coveted the Manager of the Year Awards from the American League (AL). In 1994, the franchise was able to slowly move away from the mire. At that year, the Mariners was still playing in Kingdome but there was one match that a fifteen- pound ceiling tile suddenly fell from the roof. With the incident, it led to speculations whether the stadium was still appropriate for employment. Eventually, the arena was renovated and the club was compelled to scout for another venue.
The Seattle Mariners suggested that they play in BC Place or Cheney Stadium. However, the Player’s Association was not in favor of the idea because there was a regulation that games should not be held in stadiums that are not under the Major League Baseball (MLB). With that, the team had no choice but to continue the season on the road. At that time, the franchise still had twenty games left which ran for about twenty- one days. The Mariners were always on travel which negatively affected them. However, in the next ten matches, the club was able to bounce back where it only lost one and won the nine.
In 1995, the Seattle Mariners did not have a good start even if its line- up included the admirable skills of Bobby Ayala, Randy Johnson and Bill Risley. Center fielder Ken Griffey was also not able to join the opening games because of his injury. However, the team did not lose heart and continued on with the season. By the middle of August, the franchise was already seemingly out of matches as it was behind thirteen games from the California Angels. By the following month, the Mariners appeared on the diamond with “vengeance” as they experienced a series of wins. It was there that the phrase “Refuse To Lose” became popular.
Today, the team is still active in the Major League Baseball (MLB). To catch Seattle Mariners tickets, you can check Seattle Mariners schedule in its website.