Mariners Now Glad to Come to Work

There was a time the season couldn’t end soon enough for the Seattle Mariners.

Boxes would begin showing up in the team’s clubhouse in early September so players could pack for the offseason. Edgar Martinez remembers it all too well.

“Guys were planning their trips back home,” said Seattle’s longtime designated hitter. “It was hard to come to the stadium and play when you didn’t have any hope. We just weren’t good enough.”

This year’s record-setting season may make it hard to think back to some of those painful days, when Seattle struggled just to go .500.

But veterans Martinez, Jay Buhner and Norm Charlton have been on both sides and can offer a little perspective.

Buhner jokes how he used to hear crickets chirp from the upper decks of the Kingdome and the sound of a toilet flushing in the 300-level. That’s how empty the stadium once was.

“It was a solemn place to come to,” Buhner said. “It was dreary. Those were pretty ugly years.”

Seattle has set several records this season and chased a handful of others. With a victory Thursday night, they tied the 1998 New York Yankees’ AL record of 114 wins and had a chance at the 1906 Chicago Cubs’ major league record of 116.

In 1992, the Mariners nearly lost 100 games, going 64-98, including 6-20 in September, the season’s final month.

They were that bad despite having players such as Tino Martinez and Omar Vizquel in the lineup, and rookie Dave Fleming as their top pitcher. Not to mention Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson.

Seattle sent three players to the All-Star game that season: Fleming, Griffey and Edgar Martinez.

There were loads of losses before ‘92, too. Seattle almost always had many more losses than wins. Alex Rodriguez arrived in 1994, and helped take charge of the transformation.

In 1995, things changed, and the Mariners won their first AL West title.

“I’ve definitely seen the revolving door: three different ownerships, five different managers and an endless amount of left fielders,” said Buhner, who’s spent 13 years in the majors. “Just to be part of that ’95 season, it basically saved baseball. There’s not a day I come in here without thinking about ’95.”

They won the AL West again in ‘97, and clinched the division this year on Sept. 19, with two weeks left in the season.

Lou Piniella came to Seattle from Cincinnati late in 1992, and the Mariners went 82-80 in the ’93 season. It was only their second season above .500 in franchise history.

Still, there were grim moments.

Seasons had seemingly been over for months when August and September rolled around. Players say there was little hope. When Buhner looked into the stands, it felt like just a few thousand people were watching in the 60,000-seat Kingdome. And he was about right.

The average attendance in 1992 was 20,388; and 25,332 in 1993.

Even in 1995, the year of Seattle’s first division title, the Mariners drew only 22,508 fans a night.

“It’s tough. Coming to the ballpark every day, sometimes you say ‘is it really worth it?”’ said Charlton, who joined the organization in 1993.

But he missed some of the worst years in Seattle earlier. Charlton left to play for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1994, when Seattle went 49-63, then returned to the Mariners in 1995.

“Jay and Edgar were here ... they pretty much knew they were going to lose every day,” he said.

Yet even Buhner and Martinez weren’t around for the worst. The Mariners went 56-104 in 1978, 59-103 in 1980 and 60-102 in 1983.

This season’s success has even surprised Piniella.

“Ninety wins is a nice barometer,” Piniella said. “We thought we’d be competitive. What people tend to forget here -- how many people picked us to win the division?”

Buhner and Martinez are happy to be part of the Mariners’ turnaround.

“There was a year we lost 100 and our main goal was to be .500,” Buhner said. “Then we went to trying not to lose 100 and to win 50 games. Now we try to win the World Series every year.”

These days, fans show up at Safeco Field no matter what else is going on, and the stadium sells out nightly.

“They’re just as addicted to it as we are,” Buhner said of the fans. “They chomp at the bit in January and February knowing that we’re going to start another magical season.

“It’s been an exciting transition, unbelievable really.”