Introduction: Two Outs, So What!: The 2001 Seattle Mariners

Any successful team requires capable on-field leadership and an executive stewardship that fulfills the strategic direction to build a strong roster. The Mariners already had that field general in Lou Piniella. Pat Gillick, hired as general manager after the 1999 season, took on the responsibility of constructing a strong roster that balanced top-level talent with depth to be successful over the long season. He had proved this ability with the two-time World Series champion Toronto Blue Jays and followed that with a successful run in Baltimore.

The fiery Piniella had piloted the Mariners since 1993, including leading the team to its first postseason appearance in 1995. Edgar Martínez’s extra-inning, walk-off RBI double to defeat the New York Yankees in Game Five of the ’95 AL Division Series highlighted the Mariners’ inaugural playoff run. Although the magic ran out in the AL Championship Series against the Cleveland Indians, the Mariners’ newfound success captured the hearts of baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest and helped secure funding for construction of a new ballpark to replace the aging Kingdome. Safeco Field opened on July 15, 1999.

Soon after being hired as GM, Gillick orchestrated the trade of Ken Griffey Jr. to Cincinnati. This came less than two years after the Mariners had jettisoned another future Hall of Famer, Randy Johnson. The trades of two franchise icons stung but brought back several talented players who would contribute to the 2001 Mariners’ success. Johnson yielded a return of Freddy García, John Halama, and Carlos Guillén from the Houston Astros, and Griffey Jr. netted a package of players that included Mike Cameron and Brett Tomko from the Reds. Although the trades infused youth into the organization, the 2001 Mariners remained a veteran-laden club. The position-player group had an average age of 31.3, third oldest in the majors. Catchers Dan Wilson and Tom Lampkin, first baseman John Olerud, newly signed second baseman Bret Boone, outfielders Jay Buhner, Al Martin, and Stan Javier, and utilityman Mark McLemore were all 32 or older. Jamie Moyer, 38 years old, anchored a pitching staff with an average age of 30.8, sixth oldest in the majors. Starters Aaron Sele and Paul Abbott and the Mariners’ top four relievers – Jeff Nelson, Norm Charlton, Arthur Rhodes, and Kazuhiro Sasaki – were all over 30. Outside of Edgar Martínez, all of the regulars were either acquired via trade or signed as free agents. Homegrown talent was limited.

Seattle’s biggest unknown heading into the 2001 season was 27-year-old import Ichiro Suzuki, major-league baseball’s first Japanese-born position player. The slender outfielder, known simply by his first name, won seven consecutive batting titles and three MVP awards in Japan’s Pacific League. Yet some skeptics doubted whether a Japanese spray hitter of his size could achieve success in the majors. Ichiro’s otherworldly bat-to-ball skills, blazing speed, and rifle arm left no doubt in the mind of Mariners Pacific Rim scout Jim Colborn, who persuaded Gillick to pursue the Japanese star. After ownership signed off, the Mariners paid Nippon Professional Baseball’s Orix Blue Wave $13 million for negotiating rights and then signed Ichiro to a three-year, $14 million contract.

Having lost Rodríguez to the division rival Texas Rangers in free agency and with Ichiro being something of an unknown quantity, the Mariners were expected to take a step back after winning 91 games in 2000. The Tacoma News Tribune, USA Today, and The Sporting News all predicted that they would finish second behind Oakland. “No disrespect to Boone or Ichiro, but when the A’s add Johnny Damon and the Rangers get A-Rod, the Mariners need more than those two,” wrote the News Tribune.1 In its preseason power rankings, The Sporting News rated Seattle 11th of the 30 teams. ESPN picked the Mariners to finish third in the AL West and rated Seattle’s lineup as 10th out of 14 AL teams.

In Baseball Prospectus’s 2001 preview, 11 of 13 experts picked the Mariners to finish third in the four-team AL West, and one picked Seattle to finish last. “The Mariners can’t replace Álex Rodríguez but should still come in around .500,” wrote Clay Davenport.2 Keith Law predicted that the Mariners would win fewer than 85 games. Another writer, Derek Zumsteg, wrote, “Seattle’s numerous automatic outs make them easy prey, and Oakland will eat them both alive with the unbalanced schedule.”3

Spring training started inauspiciously for the Mariners. In his first Cactus League at-bat, Buhner injured his left foot. He subsequently underwent surgery for plantar fasciitis and missed most of the season. The Mariners, whose $74.7 million payroll ranked 11th highest in baseball, posted a 13-19 spring record. The low-budget A’s, who inspired Michael Lewis’s book Moneyball, compiled a 22-10 mark. It appeared as though prognosticators might have been spot-on.

The tide turned once the games counted, however. On Opening Night, Seattle rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat Oakland in front of a record crowd at Safeco Field. Over the season’s first two weeks, the Mariners beat the heavily favored A’s five times in six meetings. In the Mariners’ victory at Oakland’s Network Associates Coliseum on April 11, Ichiro served notice to the league with a laser-beam throw from right field that nailed Terrence Long at third base. Announcer Dave Niehaus described the throw as “something out of Star Wars.”

By the end of April, Seattle owned a 20-5 record and a nine-game division lead. Then, instead of regressing, they kept winning. After another 20 victories in May, the Mariners’ record stood at 40-12, and they had extended their division lead to 14 games over the second-place A’s.

Although Seattle had a deep and talented roster, no player impacted Seattle’s hot start more than Ichiro. Besides showing off his incredible arm, the leadoff man jump-started the team’s offense and terrorized opposing teams on the bases. In May the Japanese phenom put together a 23-game hitting streak and earned Rookie of the Month honors for the second consecutive month. “He was supposed to come over and need some time to adjust,” said teammate McLemore. “I guess he got his adjustment period out of the way on the flight over.”4

The Mariners pitching also contributed to Seattle’s early success. During April and May, Sele and García combined for a 13-0 record, Sasaki converted 21 of 24 save opportunities, and setup men Rhodes and Nelson posted ERAs of 1.23 and 1.21 respectively.

After winning 15 straight between May 23 and June 8 – a franchise record and the longest win streak in the AL since 1991 – the Mariners owned a 47-12 record. Only the 1912 New York Giants (47-11-1) had a better record through 59 games. Through 62 contests, Seattle’s record stood at 49-13. At that point the team could have played .500 ball for over the final 100 games and still won 99 games. “Enjoy the ride,” proclaimed Niehaus. “You may never see anything like it again.”5

Seattle boasted a 63-24 record and a 19-game division advantage at the All-Star break. Eight Mariners – Olerud, Boone, Cameron, Ichiro, Martínez, García, Sasaki, and Nelson – were named to the AL All-Star team. Ichiro, who had captured the attention of baseball fans from coast to coast, became the first rookie to receive the most votes by the public as an All-Star starter. Given the Mariners’ presence at the midsummer classic, it was appropriate that the Emerald City hosted the exhibition for the second time in franchise history.

One of the Mariners’ few blunders in 2001 came on August 5 at Jacobs Field in Cleveland. The Indians overcame deficits of 12-0 and 14-2 to defeat the Mariners 15-14 in extra innings, making it the biggest comeback in 76 years. The veteran club remained unfazed by the embarrassing defeat, however, winning seven of its next nine.

The Mariners set a franchise record with 92 wins on August 23 with 34 games to play. They clinched a playoff berth on September 3 and were on the precipice of clinching their third-ever AL West title when the September 11 terrorist attacks rocked the nation. The major leagues paused their season for a week as the nation mourned. Baseball played an important part in the healing process, particularly in the Pacific Northwest. On September 19 the Mariners sealed the division crown with a victory over the Anaheim Angels at Safeco Field. During a subdued postgame celebration, McLemore hoisted an American flag and the players knelt in prayer, one of the indelible images from the Mariners’ historic season.

On October 5 against the Rangers, the Mariners broke the AL record with their 115th win. A day later they registered their 116th triumph, tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the most wins in major-league history. Seattle led the AL West wire to wire. The Mariners were shut out only four times and did not lose more than two games a row until late September when they had already secured the division crown.

The 2001 Mariners excelled at every phase of the game. They led the majors in runs scored with 927 – an average of 5.72 per game – despite having only one player (Boone) with more than 25 home runs. Conversely, no team was better at run prevention. Seattle’s stingy pitching and impeccable defense yielded just 3.87 runs per game. The Mariners also led the majors in team ERA (3.54), on-base percentage (.360), and stolen bases (174) and tied the New York Mets for most shutouts (14). Defensively, the Mariners tied Arizona for the majors’ best fielding percentage (.986), produced the most dWAR (10.2), and committed the fewest errors (83). The team’s never-say-die mentality and penchant for scoring runs with two outs led the fans to embrace the catchphrase: “Two outs, So What!”

“I’ve never seen a baseball team where the sum of the team exceeded the individuals like the 2001 Mariners,” wrote David Schoenfield, a senior ESPN reporter and avid Mariners fan. “They were a team in perfect harmony.”6

Baseball fans in the Pacific Northwest responded to the Mariners’ historic season by flooding the Safeco Field turnstiles. The team drew a major-league-high 3,507,325 fans – an average of 43,300 per game – and sold out 59 contests. The electricity in SoDo, the neighborhood south of downtown where Safeco Field was located, became known as “SoDo mojo.”

According to Baseball-Reference, 10 Mariners produced more than three wins above replacement (WAR), led by Bret Boone (8.8), Ichiro Suzuki (7.7), and Mike Cameron (5.9). Boone posted a .331/.372/.578 slash line and set an AL record for a second baseman with 37 home runs and 141 RBIs. Ichiro hit .350 to win the AL batting title, racked up 242 hits (the most since 1930), and stole 56 bases (third most in franchise history). With runners in scoring position, he maintained an incredible .445 average – tying Rogers Hornsby for third best all-time behind George Brett (1980) and Tony Gwynn (1997). Deservedly, Ichiro won the AL Rookie of the Year and the AL MVP, Gold Glove, and Silver Slugger Awards. Cameron, another Gold Glove winner, produced career highs in runs scored (99), RBIs (110), and OPS+ (123).

Several Mariners reached milestones during the 2001 campaign. On June 16 Olerud became the third player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. On August 8 against Toronto, Martínez reached the 1,000 career RBI mark. On August 19 Cameron tied a team record with eight RBIs in a rout of the Yankees. Moyer won 20 games for the first time, and his rotation mate, García, won the AL ERA title.

Unfortunately, the Mariners ran out of mojo in the postseason. They managed to eke out a series win against Cleveland Indians in a five-game Division Series despite being outscored 26-16 but then lost to the New York Yankees in the Championship Series. It would be another 21 years before the team returned to the postseason and 24 years before they played in another ALCS.

This book celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 2001 Mariners – a team that holds a special place in the hearts of a tortured fan base. Much like that team, putting this volume together was a true collaborative effort. Nearly 50 baseball-loving SABR members volunteered their time and energy to research and write the biographies, game stories, and essays within these pages. Veteran SABR author Bill Nowlin served as our co-editor. Other SABR members helped with fact-checking and copy-editing. We thank everyone for their efforts and hope you enjoy reading about a team worth celebrating.

STEVE FRIEDMAN has been a SABR member since 1990. Over the years, he has contributed articles for SABR publications and the BioProject. He resides in the Pacific Northwest and has been a season ticket holder of the Seattle Mariners since 1995. His youth was spent in the San Francisco Bay Area where he followed his beloved Giants. Steve retired after a career as an operator of cable television systems and currently consults with broadband and fiber optic companies.

ERIC VICKREY joined SABR in 2020 and has contributed numerous articles to the BioProject and Games Project. He is the author of three books: Runnin’ Redbirds: The World Champion 1982 St. Louis Cardinals, Season of Shattered Dreams: Postwar Baseball, the Spokane Indians, and a Tragic Bus Crash That Changed Everything, and Before They Wore Dodger Blue: Tommy Lasorda and the Greatest Draft Class in Baseball History. Eric lives in Washington state with his wife, Gina, and their two cats, Edgar and Ralphie.

 

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NOTES

1 AL Preview 2001, Tacoma News Tribune, April 1, 2001: 68.

2 “American League Predictions: Our Best Guess at 2001’s Winners and Losers,” Baseball Prospectus, March 31, 2001, https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/760/american-league-predictions-our-best-guess-at-2001s-winners-and-losers/, accessed September 23, 2025.

3 “American League Predictions: Our Best Guess at 2001’s Winners and Losers.”

4 Glenn Drosendahl, ed., Mariners 2001: A Joy Ride into the Record Books (Seattle: Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 2001), 38.

5 Drosendahl, 11.

6 David Schoenfield, “2001 Mariners: Best Team That Never Won,” ESPN, September 12, 2001, https://www.espn.com/blog/sweetspot/post/_/id/16050/2001-mariners-best-team-that-never-won, accessed October 23, 2025.