The Seattle Mariners are a Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise based in Seattle, Washington. They play in the American League West division. The first game of the new baseball season for a team is played on Opening Day, and being named the Opening Day starter is an honor, which is often given to the player who is expected to lead the pitching staff that season, [1] though there are various strategic reasons why a team's best pitcher might not start on Opening Day. [2] The Mariners have used 15 different Opening Day starting pitchers in their 41 seasons. The 15 starters have a combined Opening Day record of 15 wins, 13 losses (15–13) and 13 no decisions. [3] No decisions are only awarded to the starting pitcher if the game is won or lost after the starting pitcher has left the game.
Félix Hernández has the Mariners' record for most Opening Day starts with eleven, recording a record of 7–2. Randy Johnson has the most starts in the former home ballpark of the Mariners, the Kingdome, compiling an Opening Day record of 2–0 in 6 starts. Jamie Moyer has the most starts in Safeco Field, the Mariners' current home ballpark, and has an Opening Day record of 1–2. Mark Langston has the worst winning percentage as the Opening Day starting pitcher with a record of 0–3, all of which were pitched on the road. [3]
Overall, the Mariners' starters have a record of 7–4 at the Kingdome on Opening Day, compared to a 4–3 record at Safeco Field, making their combined home record 11–7, and their away record 6–6. [3] The Mariners went on to play in the American League Division Series (ALDS) playoff games in 1995, 1997, 2000, and 2001. Randy Johnson, Jeff Fassero, Jamie Moyer, and Freddy García were the Opening Day starting pitchers those years, and had a combined Opening Day record of 2–1. [4]
Season | Each year is linked to an article about that particular Mariners season. |
W | Win |
L | Loss |
ND (W) | No decision by starting pitcher; Mariners won game |
ND (L) | No decision by starting pitcher; Mariners lost game |
Pitcher (#) | Number of appearances as Opening Day starter with the Mariners |
* | Advanced to the postseason |
Pitcher | Num Starts | Player W-L (ND) | Team W-L |
---|---|---|---|
Felix Hernandez | 11 | 7-2 (2) | 9–2 |
Randy Johnson | 6 | 2-0 (4) | 3-3 |
Jamie Moyer | 4 | 1-2 (1) | 1–3 |
Mike Moore | 3 | 1-0 (2) | 3-0 |
Glenn Abbott | 3 | 1-1 (1) | 2-1 |
Marco Gonzales | 3 | 1-1 (1) | 2-1 |
Freddy Garcia | 3 | 0-2 (1) | 1-2 |
Mark Langston | 3 | 0-3 | 0-3 |
Jeff Fassero | 2 | 1-1 | 1-1 |
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle. The Mariners compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West Division. The team joined the American League as an expansion team in 1977 playing their home games in the Kingdome. Since July 1999, the Mariners' home ballpark has been T-Mobile Park, located in the SoDo neighborhood of Seattle.
T-Mobile Park is a retractable roof stadium in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners and has a seating capacity of 47,929. It is in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood, near the western terminus of Interstate 90. It is owned and operated by the Washington State Major League Baseball Stadium Public Facilities District. The first game at the stadium was played on July 15, 1999.
Félix Abraham Hernández García, nicknamed "King Félix", is a Venezuelan former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2005 through 2019.
Daniel Allen Wilson is an American former professional baseball player and current manager of the Seattle Mariners. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher from 1992 through 2005, most notably as a member of the Seattle Mariners where he played 12 of his 14 seasons. The 1996 All-Star selection began his career with the Cincinnati Reds before being traded to the Mariners, where he was regarded as one of the game's best defensive catchers. At the time of his retirement in 2005, Wilson held the American League record for career fielding percentage by a catcher. In 2012, Wilson was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame alongside his battery-mate, Randy Johnson. Wilson was promoted from special assignment coordinator to manager of the Seattle Mariners after the team fired Scott Servais on August 22, 2024.
Opening Day is the day on which professional baseball leagues begin their regular season. For Major League Baseball (MLB) and most of the American minor leagues, this day typically falls during the first week of April, although in recent years it has occasionally fallen in the last week of March. In Nippon Professional Baseball, this day typically falls during the last week of March.
Hisashi Iwakuma is a Japanese former professional baseball pitcher. He has played in Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) for the Osaka Kintetsu Buffaloes from 2000 to 2004, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles from 2005 to 2011, and Yomiuri Giants in 2019, and all of his time in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners from 2012 to 2017. Iwakuma retired in 2020 due to lingering shoulder issues that had prevented him from playing that year.
The Seattle Mariners are an American professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in 1977, the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field, now named T-Mobile Park, has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July 1999. From their 1977 inception until June 1999, the club's home park was the Kingdome.
The 2008 Seattle Mariners season was the 32nd Major League Baseball season in the team's history. Coming off the heels of the previous 2007 season, in which the Mariners finished with their first winning record since 2003, the team was widely expected to once again compete for the American League West championship. The team was bolstered by some major roster additions during the previous offseason, most notably starting pitchers Érik Bédard and Carlos Silva. However, by the end of May, it became apparent that the team had gone back to its losing ways of the 2004–06 seasons. Despite their losing ways, they won their first and last game of the season. Their longest winning-streak of the season is 4 games after a sweep of the Cleveland Indians at the end of August and a 12-6 win against the Texas Rangers on the first day of September. However, standing at 57–87, their longest losing-streak of the season is 12 games, 11 on the road, 1 at home, after being swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Kansas City Royals, Oakland Athletics, and suffering a loss at the last homestand opener against the Angels. On September 23, the Mariners became the first club to spend $100 million in payroll and lose 100 games. The team finished the season with a 61–101 (.377) record, last in the West for the 4th time in 5 years, and second worst in the majors.
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The Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame is an American museum and hall of fame for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. It is located at T-Mobile Park in the SoDo district of downtown Seattle.
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