your favorite former mariner

[Grizbeer]

Watching Dan Wilson walking off the field tonight kind of brought a tear to the eye tonight. He wasn't the best player Seattle ever had, but he sure was classy. Anyway it got me thinking about my all time favorite mariners:

5) Dave Valle - so he couldn't hit, who could resist getting well drinks for for the price of Valle's batting average. Like Dan Wilson, a great guy.
4) Dan Wilson - great catcher in his prime, schooled many a young prospect on their way up, and never complained.
3) Alvin Davis - Seattle's first superstar, stayed with Seattle when they were terrible and anyone else would have been long gone.
2) Ken Griffey Jr. - I know lots of people hate him, and he ain't what he used to be, but when he was in Seattle he was soooo good, and when he left it was for the right reason - to go home. Also went to bat to keep Bones when it looked like he would be gone, and convinced A-Rod to come to Seattle.
1) Harold Reynolds - again I know a lot of people can't stand Harold from ESPN broadcasts, but he stayed with Seattle when they were bad and he was good, and was a big mentor to Jr. to teach him it was only a game, and how you should treat the fans, the city, and your teammates.

 

[GrizBiz]

Hmmm...great topic. Also a bit appropriate given the forced resignations that started today. Pitching coach Price and Hitting coach Baylor both "resigned" today.

Most of my favorites come from the '92-'97 teams. I'll skip the current players since they haven't cemented their legends yet. Here goes:


5) "The Sheriff", Norm Charlton. He only had a couple of good years in Seattle but when he was on, he was filthy. He brought an attitude to a relief corps that needed it badly.

4) "The Big Unit", Randy Johnson. I sometimes wonder if we M's fans appreciated him enough when he pitched for Seattle. During his time in Seattle, he evolved from a wild throwing fireballer into the most polished and devastating left handed pitcher this side of Lefty Grove. The M's made a decision to let him go due to his bad back and I don't fault them for that. Still, I can't help but think that we would have a WS banner or two hanging in Safeco if Randy had remained in Seattle.

3) "Little O", Omar Vizquel. I still remember him flashing across the diamond, barehanding the ball and firing to first to preserve Bosio's no hitter. The guys was electric with the glove and made watching defense fun. The Kingdome was a pit but I do have some great memories - remember the "Older Women for Omar" fan club and their signage? God that was a fun team.

2) "Bone", Jay Buhner. Before Safeco's "Area 51", we had "The Boneyard". Those rightfield seats were fun to sit in. I remember seeing some tatood lady get her head shaved in exchange for a free ticket on Buhner Buzz Cut night. We have seen some pretty interesting players in RF for the last decade - Buhner and Ichiro. This just in - the ball from one of Buhner's home runs that he hit in '96 just landed in Tukwila.

1) "'Gar", Edgar Martinez. The best pure right handed hitter this neophyte baseball fan has ever seen. Manny is a good one, no doubt, but Edgar just seemed to stalk a pitcher, wait for his pitch and drive it at will. I don't think that he swung at a single pitch outside of the strike zone between '93 and 2000. I love how his approach at the plate evolved year to year, as leg injuries and age robbed him of bat speed and power. He adjusted and remained a force in the middle of the Mariner lineup long after a lesser man would have been forced out of the game. Plus, he hit the shot heard round the world in '95 to drive in Griffey, beat the Yankees and save baseball in Seattle. Pretty nice guy, too.




BTW - Valle is the worst radio announcer I've ever heard. God I hope they can him sometime soon.