September 8, 2004: Greg Dobbs’ first-at-bat homer not enough for Seattle in 9-5 loss to Cleveland

With just over three weeks left in the regular season, when the teams took the field on the evening of September 8, 2004, neither the Cleveland Indians nor the Seattle Mariners had any hope of reaching the postseason. The Indians had already exceeded their 2003 win total, but they were clearly a team still rebuilding as they sought to return the level of play they had achieved from 1995 to 2001. Meanwhile, the Mariners, just three seasons removed from their historic 116-win 2001 campaign, were 35 games under .500 as they hosted the Indians in the second game of the two-game series. For both teams, this was the time to assess their rosters while offering young prospects a chance to show what they could do. 

The starting pitchers in Safeco Field that night were Cliff Lee for the Indians and Cha-Seung Baek for the Mariners. After being called up at the end of the previous two seasons, Lee, a 25-year-old left-hander, came into the game sporting a 10-7 record in his first full season in the big leagues. Opposite him was 24-year-old right-hander Cha-Seung Baek, who had made his major-league debut the month before. For both pitchers, the game represented the next step in an ongoing process to establish themselves in the majors.

Baek got off to a rocky start, giving up a double to Indians leadoff hitter Coco Crisp. The next two batters flied out but cleanup hitter Victor Martinez hit a single to center field that brought Crisp in with the game’s first run. Baek then struck out Travis Hafner to end the inning. In the Mariners’ half, Lee retired the first two batters, but Edgar Martínez hit a 3-and-2 pitch over the left-field fence for a game-tying home run. Bret Boone followed with a groundball single to center, but Lee retired Jolbert Cabrera on a pop fly to short to end the threat.

Baek retired the Indians in order in the second and third innings, but Lee walked Randy Winn in the third, then gave up a second home run to Edgar Martínez, making the score 3-1, Mariners.

The Indians hitters woke up in the top of the fourth, tapping Baek for five hits and four runs. Bret Boone’s error allowed leadoff hitter Matt Lawton to reach second base, then a groundball by Victor Martinez moved him to third. Hafner brought Lawton home with a single. After Baek retired Ben Broussard on a popup to third, Ronnie Belliard cleared the bases and put the Indians in the lead with a home run over the left-field fence. Still struggling, Baek gave up singles to Jody Gerut and Crisp before getting Omar Vizquel to pop up to second and end the inning.

Returning to the mound with a 5-3 lead, Lee walked Hiram Bocachica to open the Mariners’ fourth. Lee retired José López on a fly ball to left. Bocachica then stole second, but Lee dispatched the next two Mariners hitters to end the threat. In the top of the fifth, a single by Lawton, a wild pitch, and a walk to Hafner put runners on first and second. But Baek struck out Casey Blake and then got Broussard to ground into a force out to end the inning.   

The Mariners closed the gap in the bottom of the fifth. With two outs, Boone hit his 21st home run of the season, a drive over the right-field fence, to make the score 5-4. In the only perfect inning of the night, with two new pitchers on the mound (Matt Thornton for the Mariners and David Riske for the Indians), both sides were retired in order in the sixth.

Thornton’s luck changed in the seventh. After getting Vizquel to pop up to first, he gave up a single to Lawton, who proceeded to steal second base. After Martinez flied out to right, Lawton went to third on a wild pitch by Thornton. A walk to Hafner put men on first and third, then Blake stroked a single to center to score Lawton, upping the Indians’ lead to 6-4. Ron Villone replaced Thornton and threw a wild pitch to his first batter, Broussard, moving the runners to second and third. Broussard then lined a 3-and-2 pitch to right field, driving in both runners. Broussard advanced to second on the throw. After walking Belliard, Villone struck out Gerut to end the half-inning with the Indians leading 8-4.   

Rafael Betancourt replaced Riske for the Indians in the eighth. Except for a single and stolen base by Ichiro Suzuki, Betancourt emerged from the inning unscathed. 

Shigetoshi Hasegawa replaced Villone for the Mariners in the top of the eighth and gave up leadoff singles to Crisp and Vizquel. They moved up on a groundout by Lawton. After a fly out by Victor Martinez, an intentional walk to Hafner loaded the bases. Hasegawa escaped the jam by getting Blake to hit into a force out at second base.

Bob Howry took the mound for the Indians in the bottom of the eighth. After walking Boone, he retired the next three batters, striking out two. As the teams headed into the ninth, the Indians maintained their 8-4 lead. 

The Indians padded their totals in the top of the ninth. After new Mariners hurler Aaron Taylor took care of the first two hitters, Gerut hit a drive to deep right field for a home run, increasing the lead to 9-4. Crisp followed with a walk, but Taylor ended the inning by getting Vizquel to fly to center.

The Mariners, down to their last three outs, sent rookie Greg Dobbs to the plate to pinch-hit for López. Dobbs was a left-handed-hitting third baseman who had just been called up after splitting time between Double-A San Antonio and Triple-A Tacoma. Facing Indians veteran right-hander Bob Wickman in his first major-league at-bat, Dobbs jumped on a 3-and-2 pitch, driving the ball into the right-field bleachers. The solo shot brought some excitement to the Seattle crowd, but Wickman quickly put a damper on the occasion, retiring the next three batters to seal the Indians’ win. While Dobbs’ blast made him the first Mariner to homer in his first big-league at-bat, the rookie was philosophical after the game, noting that Wickman “threw some nasty stuff. But I was able to fight him off and get to 3-and-2. It didn’t have any significance in the game, but for me, it was great to get that first one.”1

Indeed, for Dobbs, his pinch-hit home run was a preview of the trademark of his career. During his 11 years in the majors, he established himself as a top-flight pinch-hitter. He played an important role on the Philadelphia Phillies’ pennant-winning team of 2007 and their World Series championship run in 2008.2

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com.  

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SEA/SEA200409080.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B09080SEA2004.htm

Photo credit: Greg Dobbs, courtesy of the Seattle Mariners.

Notes

1 John Hickey, “Edgar Steals Ichiro’s Thunder,” Seattle Post-Intelligencer, September 9, 2009: D1.

2 Matt Breen, “Greg Dobbs Was Baseball’s Best Pinch Hitter. He Uses Those Same Skills in ‘The Big Leagues of Finance,’” Philadelphia Inquirer, September 21, 2023. https://www.inquirer.com/phillies/greg-dobbs-2008-phillies-world-series-where-are-they-now-20230920.html; accessed June 4, 2024.