BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Nothing Left for Mariners but ‘Next Year’

Reality intruded at 8:02 p.m. Tuesday night. It was the same as midnight for the Seattle Mariners.

“The Cinderella story has come to an end, but the most important thing is that everyone in this clubhouse now knows how to win,” Randy Johnson said.

“I’ve been here for seven of the lean years, and it’s a great feeling to know we’ll go to spring training with, hopefully, the same faces and a belief we can win.”

Gassed mentally and physically, as he put it, Johnson went another seven innings on fortitude and three days’ rest before losing to a former teammate and mentor, Dennis Martinez, and the Cleveland Indians, 4-0, in Game 6 of the American League championship series.

The Indians open the World Series on Saturday night in Atlanta. And a 41-year curse has been lifted.

For the Mariners, the end is a beginning.

There were tears and expressions of disappointment in the clubhouse, but as Manager Lou Piniella said:

“I told the players they had nothing to be ashamed of, that it was a season in which we saved baseball for Seattle and began a winning tradition.

“It was a first step. Hopefully, we can build on it. With a new ballpark, players are going to want to come here and stay here.

“I’m proud of what we’ve accomplished, and even prouder of seeing this place packed every night than winning [the American League West title].

“You can have a good team, but if the fans don’t come out, what have you got?”

A crowd of 58,489 in the Decibel Dome on Tuesday night never lost its voice or enthusiasm. Johnson left to a thunderous salute in a three-run eighth. A “Mariners” chant continued long after the final out, echoes of a season in which they overcame the extended loss of Ken Griffey Jr. to win the West title after trailing by 13 games, came back to beat the New York Yankees in the division series after trailing 0-2 and extended baseball’s best hitting team to the eve of a seventh game in the championship series.

Said Johnson: “No one could anticipate any of this and no one has reason to be disappointed.”

Again carrying the hopes of his team and the expectations of the entire Northwest, Johnson was devoid of an overpowering fastball but still struck out seven and trailed only 1-0 entering the eighth on a throwing error by second baseman Joey Cora. A double by Tony Pena, single by Kenny Lofton and home run by Carlos Baerga put it away in that inning, when catcher Dan Wilson’s failure to retain a tailing fastball that reached the backstop permitted two runs to score.

Johnson refused comment on the passed ball that took the deficit from 1-0 to 3-0. He chose to say that he did what he had to do, keeping his team in the game on a night when he failed to burn up the speed guns.

“No excuses, but I’ve probably thrown more pitches than anyone in baseball over the last two or three weeks,” he said. “I’m only human. I get tired like anyone else. The Indians led the league in almost every offensive category. I feel good that I was able to get us to the eighth inning without overpowering stuff.”

Johnson said he was bothered that a couple of Cleveland players had been quoted as saying they were coming west for only one game, that he felt it was an expression of disrespect, but he praised Martinez.

“It’s kind of ironic,” he said. “When I first joined the [Montreal] Expos, Dennis Martinez was one of the veterans and took me under his wing. He’s always been the ultimate craftsman and professional, and I learned from the teacher again tonight.”

Martinez shut out the Mariners for seven innings on four hits. Seattle scored only 12 runs in the six games, batting .184.

Cleveland’s starting pitchers are 6-1 in the postseason and restricted the 3-4-5 hitters of the Mariners and Boston Red Sox to a .138 batting average and one home run in nine games.

The Mariners litany of futility:

Edgar Martinez, two for 23; Tino Martinez, three for 22; Vince Coleman, two for 20; Cora, four for 23; Wilson, 0 for 17, and Mike Blowers, four for 18.

“Every time we had an opportunity to break a game open we didn’t do it,” Tino Martinez said. “And when you’re not scoring, everybody tries to do too much. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. You’ve got to give their pitchers credit. They moved the ball around, mixed up their pitches. I felt like I was behind 0 and 2 the whole series.”

Said Griffey: “There’s some disappointment right now, but we have nothing to hang our heads about. A lot of guys had great years. A lot of guys learned a lot about themselves, and that’s important. People said we couldn’t fill the Kingdome unless we had a giveaway night, but we began to fill it every night.

“We’ll take a lot of positives and momentum into the off-season. We have a lot on which to build.”

Johnson, of course, can use the rest. He made six appearances in the last 19 days, helping the Mariners fight off elimination three times.

“I’m OK, the arm’s fine,” he said. “If anyone needs a pitcher, all I need is another week.”

Under contract with the reborn Mariners through 1997, Johnson forced a smile, laughing through the tears.