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Never Been There...

© C. A. Wright

The Mariners still have to prove themselves to the baseball world. You see, they have only had six winning seasons in their 24-year history, prior to this year, and they have never even been to a World Series. Contrast that with the Yankees, who in their first 24 years had 18 winning seasons and had been to the Series eight times, with five wins. (In their 87-year history, they had 72 winning seasons and won 26 out of 37 World Series).

If you go by history, then you would have to put your money (figuratively speaking) on the Yanks, but if you go by current performance, then the Mariners are your team. They continue to go about the business of winning series and breaking records. Here are some of them so far:

Club Records:

4/30  Wins in April (20)
5/31  Wins in May (20)
6/08  Winning streak (15; old record: 10- 9/96)
6/20  RBI by a second baseman (72-Boone; old record: 71-Bell, 1999)
7/08  Games won at All-Star break (63)
7/08  Hits before the break (Ichiro-134)
7/10  Pitchers in All-Star Game (3)
7/10  All-Star representatives (8)
7/26  Shutouts in one month (6; old record: 5-6/87 & 7/93)
8/06  Hits by a rookie in a season (162-Ichiro; old record 161-Davis, 1984)
8/06  Consecutive wins by a pitcher (10-Abbott)
8/06  Most starting pitchers to win 12+ games in a season (4- Garcia, Sele, Abbott, Moyer)
8/15  Fastest pitcher to win 40 games (in 79 games-Garcia; old record: 82-Moyer)
8/15  Home runs by a second baseman (27-Boone; old record: 26- Cora)
8/18  Wins by a relief pitcher (8-Rhodes; old record: 7- Thomas, 1985)
8/18  Saves (38-Sazaki; old record: 37-Sazaki ’00)
8/18  Fielding percentage (.987; old record: .985, 1993)
8/19  RBI in a game (8-Cameron ties record with Davis, 1986 & Blowers, 1995)
8/20  Largest crowd at Safeco Field in regular-season game (45,972)
8/22  Hits by a batter in a game (5-Bell ties club record)
8/23  Most wins in a season (92; old record: 91-9/00)

American & Major League Records:

4/30  Most wins in April (20) in ML
7/02  Most All-Star votes for a rookie (Ichiro) in ML
7/10  Pitchers from same team recorded a win and a save in same All-Star game
8/18  Saves by a pitcher in his first two years in ML (75- Sazaki)
8/18  Most season hitting streaks of 15+ games since 1980 (3- Ichiro ties Cecil Cooper)
8/06  25+ home runs in a season by a second baseman (26-Boone ties 4 others in AL)

Boone and Ichiro will likely topple a few more marks by the end of the season, and as a team, they should surpass the AL record of 114 wins set by the Yankees in 1998. Who knows, they may even top the ML record of 116.