1) When the Pilots moved from Seattle to become the Milwaukee Brewers, the city of Seattle filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball. Finally Seattle was awarded another franchise and in 1977 the Seattle Mariners began play. It wouldn’t be until 1991 that the Mariners would have their first winning team.
2) In 2001 the Mariners had not only their best season, but also one of the best ever in baseball. The won 116 games matching the previous record for wins set by the 1906 Chicago Cubs. Part of this was due to bringing in Japan’s star Ichiro Suzuki. Ichiro would win the American League MVP as well as Rookie of the year. However they lost the American League pennant to the New York Yankees.
3) They have reached post season only 4 times, winning 3 Divisional titles and having one Wild card berth. They have yet to win a pennant.
4) The Mariners have not retired any uniform numbers. Their policy is that only players in the Hall of Fame and had played for at least 5 years for the Mariners or players that played their career in Seattle, but narrowly missing the Hall of Fame. Even though they have not officially retired any numbers they have not reissued 11-Edgar Martinez, 14-Lou Pinella, 19-Jay Buhner, 24-Ken Griffy Jr.. The number 51 of Randy Johnson was not used after he left the team until Ichiro Suzuki requested to use the number. He had worn that number his entire career in Japan.
5) They play their home games in Safeco Field. The Stadium opened in 1999. The stadium has a retractable roof with a train line running under the roof when it is open. It has a capacity of 47,116.
6) The team is owned by Japanese businessman Hiroshi Yamauchi and managed by Mike Hargrove.
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