1981 Seattle Mariners
LeagueAmerican League
DivisionWest
BallparkKingdome
CitySeattle, Washington
OwnersGeorge Argyros
General managersDan O'Brien Sr.
ManagersMaury Wills - (6–18)
Rene Lachemann - (38–47)
TelevisionKING-TV
RadioKVI 570 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Ken Wilson,
Don Poier)
← 1980 Seasons 1982 →

The 1981 Seattle Mariners season was their fifth since the franchise creation, and were sixth in the American League West at 44–65 (.404). Due to the 1981 player's strike, the season was split in half, with pre-strike and post-strike results. The Mariners were sixth in the division in the first half at 21–36 (.368), and fifth in the second half at 23–29 (.442). The strike began on June 12 and regular season play resumed on August 10.[1]

Manager Maury Wills was fired on May 6 with a 6–18 (.250) record, the M's worst start yet;[2] he was succeeded by 36-year-old Rene Lachemann, the manager at Triple-A Spokane.[2][3][4]

Offseason

Ken Clay was traded to the Mariners during the off-season

Regular season

Overview

Jerry Narron caught 65 games for the Mariners.

On January 14, 1981, the Mariners' were sold to George Argyros, a California real estate developer, for an estimated $12.5 million.[10][11] The sale of the team, which needed the approval of 10 of 14 owners of American League teams, received a unanimous vote of consent on January 29.[12]

Tom Paciorek hit .326 and then was traded

On April 25, Mariners' manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot (0.3 m), and A's manager Billy Martin noticed. He showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was seven feet (2.1 m) in length (instead of six). Martin felt that batters being able to move up a foot in the box could cut at pitches before a curveball broke. Wills was suspended for two games and fined $500;[13][14] he was fired on May 6.[2]

While in Arlington in late May to play the Texas Rangers, the Mariners' uniforms were stolen. For the May 30 game against the Rangers, Seattle wore their batting practice jerseys, Milwaukee Brewers' caps, and Rangers' batting helmets.[15] The Mariners purchased the Brewers caps at the Rangers' souvenir-stand; the Rangers did not offer Seattle caps for sale.[16]

Journeyman Tom Paciorek put together a career season with the M's in 1981. Playing full-time for the only time in his career at age 34, he batted .326, second in the American League,[17] and was fourth in the AL in slugging percentage. Paciorek earned his only appearance to an All-Star team in 1981 and was tenth in the AL MVP race. After a request for increased compensation and a three-year contract,[17] the Mariners traded him in December 1981 to the Chicago White Sox for three players,[18] none of whom made an impact with Seattle. Paciorek hit over .300 his first two years with the Sox, and was part of Chicago's division championship team in 1983.

Season standings

AL West 		W L Pct. GB Home Road
Oakland Athletics 64 45 0.587 — 35–21 29–24
Texas Rangers 57 48 0.543 5 32–24 25–24
Chicago White Sox 54 52 0.509 8½ 25–24 29–28
Kansas City Royals 50 53 0.485 11 19–28 31–25
California Angels 51 59 0.464 13½ 26–28 25–31
Seattle Mariners 44 65 0.404 20 20–37 24–28
Minnesota Twins 41 68 0.376 23 24–36 17–32
AL West
First Half Standings 		W L Pct. GB
Oakland Athletics 37 23 .617 —
Texas Rangers 33 22 .600 1+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox 31 22 .585 2+1⁄2
California Angels 31 29 .517 6
Kansas City Royals 20 30 .400 12
Seattle Mariners 21 36 .368 14+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins 17 39 .304 18
AL West
Second Half Standings 		W L Pct. GB
Kansas City Royals 30 23 .566 —
Oakland Athletics 27 22 .551 1
Texas Rangers 24 26 .480 4+1⁄2
Minnesota Twins 24 29 .453 6
Seattle Mariners 23 29 .442 6+1⁄2
Chicago White Sox 23 30 .434 7
California Angels 20 30 .400 8+1⁄2

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League record

Sources: [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]
Team BAL BOS CAL CWS CLE DET KC MIL MIN NYY OAK SEA TEX TOR
Baltimore — 2–2 6–6 3–6 4–2 6–7 5–3 2–4 6–0 7–6 7–5 4–2 2–1 5–2
Boston 2–2 — 2–4 5–4 7–6 6–1 3–3 6–7 2–5 3–3 7–5 9–3 3–6 4–0
California 6–6 4–2 — 6–7 7–5 3–3 0–6 4–3 3–3 2–2 2–8 6–4 2–4 6–6
Chicago 6–3 4–5 7–6 — 2–5 3–3 2–0 4–1 2–4 5–7 7–6 3–3 2–4 7–5
Cleveland 2–4 6–7 5–7 5–2 — 1–5 4–4 3–6 2–1 7–5 3–2 8–4 2–2 4–2
Detroit 7–6 1–6 3–3 3–3 5–1 — 3–2 5–8 9–3 3–7 1–2 5–1 9–3 6–4
Kansas City 3–5 3–3 6–0 0–2 4–4 2–3 — 4–5 9–4 2–10 3–3 6–7 3–4 5–3
Milwaukee 4–2 7–6 3–4 1–4 6–3 8–5 5–4 — 9–3 3–3 4–2 2–2 4–5 6–4
Minnesota 0–6 5–2 3–3 4–2 1–2 3–9 4–9 3–9 — 3–3 2–8 3–6–1 5–8 5–1
New York 6–7 3–3 2–2 7–5 5–7 7–3 10–2 3–3 3–3 — 4–3 2–3 5–4 2–3
Oakland 5–7 5–7 8–2 6–7 2–3 2–1 3–3 2–4 8–2 3–4 — 6–1 4–2 10–2
Seattle 2–4 3–9 4–6 3–3 4–8 1–5 7–6 2–2 6–3–1 3–2 1–6 — 5–8 3–3
Texas 1–2 6–3 4–2 4–2 2–2 3–9 4–3 5–4 8–5 4–5 2–4 8–5 — 6–2
Toronto 2–5 0–4 6–6 5–7 2–4 4–6 3–5 4–6 1–5 3–2 2–10 3–3 2–6 —


Notable transactions

Roster

1981 Seattle Mariners roster
Roster
Pitchers Catchers

Infielders

Outfielders Manager

Coaches

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 Jerry Narron 76 203 45 .222 3 17
1B Bruce Bochte 99 335 87 .260 6 30
2B Julio Cruz 94 352 90 .256 2 24
SS Jim Anderson 70 162 33 .204 2 19
3B Dan Meyer 83 252 66 .262 3 22
LF Tom Paciorek 104 405 132 .326 14 66
CF Joe Simpson 91 288 64 .222 2 30
RF Jeff Burroughs 89 319 81 .254 10 41
DH Richie Zisk 94 357 111 .311 16 43

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
Lenny Randle 82 273 63 .231 4 25
Gary Gray 69 208 51 .245 13 31
Bud Bulling 62 154 38 .247 2 15
Dave Henderson 59 126 21 .167 6 13
Paul Serna 30 94 24 .255 4 9
Rick Auerbach 38 84 13 .155 1 6
Dave Edler 29 78 11 .141 0 5
Jim Maler 12 23 8 .348 0 2
Casey Parsons 36 22 5 .227 1 5
Vance McHenry 15 18 4 .222 0 2
Brad Gulden 8 16 3 .188 0 1
Reggie Walton 12 6 0 .000 0 0
Kim Allen 19 3 0 .000 0 0
Dan Firova 13 2 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
Glenn Abbott 22 130.1 4 9 3.94 35
Floyd Bannister 21 121.1 9 9 4.45 85
Jim Beattie 13 66.2 3 2 2.97 36
Brian Allard 7 48.0 3 2 3.75 20
Bob Stoddard 5 34.2 2 1 2.60 22

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
Ken Clay 22 101.0 2 7 4.63 32
Bryan Clark 29 93.1 2 5 4.34 52
Jerry Don Gleaton 20 85.1 4 7 4.75 31
Mike Parrott 24 85.0 3 6 5.08 43

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
Shane Rawley 46 4 6 8 3.95 35
Larry Andersen 41 3 3 5 2.66 40
Dick Drago 39 4 6 5 5.53 27
Bob Galasso 13 1 1 1 4.83 14
Randy Stein 6 0 1 0 10.61 6
Bud Black 2 0 0 0 0.00 0

Awards and records

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball
Level Team League Manager
AAA Spokane Indians Pacific Coast League Rene Lachemann and Ken Pape
AA Lynn Sailors Eastern League Bobby Floyd
A Wausau Timbers Midwest League Bill Plummer
A-Short Season Bellingham Mariners Northwest League Jeff Scott

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wausau[24]

Notes

  1. ^ "It's a mixed review for the second season". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. August 11, 1981. p. 1C.
  2. ^ a b c "Wills replaced by the Mariners". Eugene Register-Guard. wire services. May 7, 1981. p. 2C.
  3. ^ Blanchette, John (May 7, 1981). "Wills fired; M's turn to 'Lach'". Spokesman-Review. p. 25.
  4. ^ Stewart, Chuck (May 7, 1981). "Oh, beautiful day!". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). p. 37.
  5. ^ "Brad Gulden Stats".
  6. ^ Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference
  7. ^ a b Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference
  8. ^ Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
  9. ^ Dave Heaverlo page at Baseball Reference
  10. ^ "Agreement reached on Mariners sale". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. January 15, 1981. p. 21.
  11. ^ "California Developer Set To Purchase the Mariners". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 15, 1981. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  12. ^ "White Sox, Mariners sales are unanimous". Spartanburg Herald. (South Carolina). Associated Press. January 30, 1981. p. B2.
  13. ^ "ESPN.com - Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball".
  14. ^ "Wills dealt suspension". Spokane Daily Chronicle. (Washington). Associated Press. April 28, 1981. p. 20.
  15. ^ "Rag-tag team happens to be Seattle". Anchorage Daily News. June 2, 1981. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
  16. ^ "Dressing up". Milwaukee Journal. June 1, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
  17. ^ a b "Baseball: Mariners reject demands by Paciorek". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. November 5, 1981. p. 3B.
  18. ^ "Goodbye: Seattle makes Paciorek an offer he could refuse". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. December 12, 1981. p. 5B.
  19. ^ Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
  20. ^ Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference
  21. ^ Phil Bradley page at Baseball Reference
  22. ^ Charlie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
  23. ^ Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.93, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
  24. ^ Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

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