1981 Seattle Mariners season

1981 Seattle Mariners
Major League affiliations
American League (since 1977)
Western Division (since 1977)
Location
Kingdome (since 1977)
Seattle, Washington (since 1977)
Other information
Owner(s)	Danny Kaye
General manager(s)	Dan O'Brien, Sr.
Manager(s)	Maury Wills, Rene Lachemann
Local television	KING-TV
Local radio	KVI 570 AM (Dave Niehaus, Ken Wilson, Don Poier)
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The Seattle Mariners 1981 season was their fifth since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 6th in the American League West, finishing with a record of 44-65. Due to the 1981 player's strike, the division's were split in half, pre-strike and post-strike results. The Mariners finished 6th with a 21-36 record in the first half and 5th with a 23-29 record in the second half.

Offseason

• November 18, 1980: Brad Gulden was traded by the New York Yankees with $150,000 to the Seattle Mariners for a player to be named later and Larry Milbourne. The Seattle Mariners sent back Brad Gulden (May 18, 1981) to the New York Yankees to complete the trade.^[1] In effect, Brad Gulden was traded for himself.
• December 8, 1980: Gary Gray was selected by the Mariners from the Cleveland Indians in the rule 5 draft.^[2]
• December 12, 1980: Byron McLaughlin was traded by the Mariners to the Minnesota Twins for Willie Norwood.^[3]
• December 12, 1980: Willie Horton, Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts were traded by the Mariners to the Texas Rangers for Richie Zisk, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton, Brian Allard, and Steve Finch (minors).^[4]
• March 26, 1981: Dave Heaverlo was released by the Mariners.^[5]
• March 26, 1981: Willie Norwood was released by the Seattle Mariners.^[3]

Regular season

Overview

On January 14, 1981, the Mariners' were sold to George Argyros, a California real estate developer, for an estimated $12.5 million.^[6] The sale of the team, that needed the approval of 10 out of 14 owners of American League teams, received a unanimous vote of consent.^[7] On April 25, 1981, Mariners' manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot. A's manager Billy Martin noticed. Martin showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was seven feet long instead of six feet. Martin felt that batters being able to move up a foot in the box could cut at pitches before a curveball broke. Wills was suspended for two games and fined $500.^[8] In May, while in Arlington, Texas to play the Texas Rangers, the Mariners' uniforms were stolen. For the May 30 game against the Rangers, the Mariners wore their batting practice jerseys, Milwaukee Brewers' caps, and Rangers' batting helmets.^[9] The Mariners purchased the Brewers caps at the Rangers' souvenir-stand; the Rangers did not offer Seattle caps for sale.^[10]

Season standings

AL West	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	64	45	0.587	—	35–21	29–24
Texas Rangers	57	48	0.543	5	32–24	25–24
Chicago White Sox	54	52	0.509	8½	25–24	29–28
Kansas City Royals	50	53	0.485	11	19–28	31–25
California Angels	51	59	0.464	13½	26–28	25–31
Seattle Mariners	44	65	0.404	20	20–37	24–28
Minnesota Twins	41	68	0.376	23	24–36	17–32

AL West First Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Oakland Athletics	37	23	.617
Texas Rangers	33	22	.600
Chicago White Sox	31	22	.585
California Angels	31	29	.517
Kansas City Royals	20	30	.400
Seattle Mariners	21	36	.368
Minnesota Twins	17	39	.304

AL West Second Half Standings	W	L	Pct.
Kansas City Royals	30	23	.566
Oakland Athletics	27	22	.551
Texas Rangers	24	26	.480
Minnesota Twins	24	29	.453
Seattle Mariners	23	29	.442
Chicago White Sox	23	30	.434
California Angels	20	30	.400

Record vs. opponents

1981 American League Records Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	2–2	6–6	3–6	4–2	6–7	5–3	2–4	6–0	7–6	7–5	4–2	2–1	5–2
Boston	2–2	—	2–4	5–4	7–6	6–1	3–3	6–7	2–5	3–3	7–5	9–3	3–6	4–0
California	6–6	4–2	—	6–7	7–5	3–3	0–6	4–3	3–3	2–2	2–8	6–4	2–4	6–6
Chicago	6–3	4–5	7–6	—	2–5	3–3	2–0	4–1	2–4	5–7	7–6	3–3	2–4	7–5
Cleveland	2–4	6–7	5–7	5–2	—	1–5	4–4	3–6	2–1	7–5	3–2	8–4	2–2	4–2
Detroit	7–6	1–6	3–3	3–3	5–1	—	3–2	5–8	9–3	3–7	1–2	5–1	9–3	6–4
Kansas City	3–5	3–3	6–0	0–2	4–4	2–3	—	4–5	9–4	2–10	3–3	6–7	3–4	5–3
Milwaukee	4–2	7–6	3–4	1–4	6–3	8–5	5–4	—	9–3	3–3	4–2	2–2	4–5	6–4
Minnesota	0–6	5–2	3–3	4–2	1–2	3–9	4–9	3–9	—	3–3	2–8	3–6–1	5–8	5–1
New York	6–7	3–3	2–2	7–5	5–7	7–3	10–2	3–3	3–3	—	4–3	2–3	5–4	2–3
Oakland	5–7	5–7	8–2	6–7	2–3	2–1	3–3	2–4	8–2	3–4	—	6–1	4–2	10–2
Seattle	2–4	3–9	4–6	3–3	4–8	1–5	7–6	2–2	6–3–1	3–2	1–6	—	5–8	3–3
Texas	1–2	6–3	4–2	4–2	2–2	3–9	4–3	5–4	8–5	4–5	2–4	8–5	—	6–2
Toronto	2–5	0–4	6–6	5–7	2–4	4–6	3–5	4–6	1–5	3–2	2–10	3–3	2–6	—

Notable transactions

• April 8, 1981: Manny Sarmiento was traded by the Mariners to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Drago.^[11]
• April 8, 1981: Bob Galasso was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.^[12]
• June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
  • Phil Bradley was drafted by the Mariners in the 3rd round.^[13]
  • Charlie O'Brien was drafted by the Mariners in the 21st round, but did not sign.^[14]

Roster

1981 Seattle Mariners roster
Roster
Pitchers 17 Glenn Abbott 31 Brian Allard 39 Larry Andersen 19 Floyd Bannister 45 Jim Beattie 36 Bud Black 48 Bryan Clark 21 Ken Clay 40 Dick Drago 43 Bob Galasso 28 Jerry Don Gleaton 20 Mike Parrott 41 Shane Rawley 26 Randy Stein 34 Bob Stoddard		Catchers  9 Bud Bulling 44 Dan Firova 27 Brad Gulden  3 Jerry Narron Infielders  2 Kim Allen  4 Jim Anderson 16 Rick Auerbach 23 Bruce Bochte  6 Julio Cruz 24 Dave Edler 29 Gary Gray 11 Jim Maler  8 Vance McHenry  7 Dan Meyer  1 Lenny Randle 38 Paul Serna		Outfielders  5 Jeff Burroughs 42 Dave Henderson 14 Tom Paciorek 27 Casey Parsons 18 Joe Simpson 33 Reggie Walton		Manager 15 Rene Lachemann 30 Maury Wills Coaches 12 Tommy Davis 35 Frank Funk 10 Cananea Reyes 32 Wes Stock

Player stats

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
2B	Cruz, JulioJulio Cruz	94	352	90	.256	2	24
3B	Meyer, DanDan Meyer	83	252	66	.262	3	22
DH	Zisk, RichieRichie Zisk	94	357	111	.311	16	43

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Gray, GaryGary Gray	69	208	51	.245	13	31
Serna, PaulPaul Serna	30	94	24	.255	4	9
Auerbach, RickRick Auerbach	38	84	13	.155	1	6
Parsons, CaseyCasey Parsons	36	22	5	.227	1	5
McHenry, VanceVance McHenry	15	18	4	.222	0	2
Walton, ReggieReggie Walton	12	6	0	.000	0	0
Firova, DanDan Firova	13	2	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Abbott, GlennGlenn Abbott	22	130.1	4	9	3.94	35
Bannister, FloydFloyd Bannister	21	121.1	9	9	4.45	85
Beattie, JimJim Beattie	13	66.2	3	2	2.97	36
Allard, BrianBrian Allard	7	48	3	2	3.75	20
Stoddard, BobBob Stoddard	5	34.2	2	1	2.60	22

Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Clay, KenKen Clay	22	101	2	7	4.63	32
Gleaton, Jerry DonJerry Don Gleaton	20	85.1	4	7	4.75	31

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Andersen, LarryLarry Andersen	41	3	3	5	2.66	40
Drago, DickDick Drago	39	4	6	5	5.53	27
Galasso, BobBob Galasso	13	1	1	1	4.83	14
Stein, RandyRandy Stein	6	0	1	0	10.61	6

Awards and records

• Julio Cruz, American League record, Most chances accepted in one nine-inning game (18 chances on June 7, 1981) ^[15]

Farm system

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Spokane Indians	Pacific Coast League	Rene Lachemann and Ken Pape
AA	Lynn Sailors	Eastern League	Bobby Floyd
A	Wausau Timbers	Midwest League	Bill Plummer
A-Short Season	Bellingham Mariners	Northwest League	Jeff Scott

LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Wausau^[16]

Notes

1. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guldebr01.shtml
2. Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference
3. Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference
4. Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference
5. Dave Heaverlo page at Baseball Reference
6. "California Developer Set To Purchase the Mariners". The New York Times. Associated Press. January 15, 1981. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
7. "White Sox, Mariners Sales Are Unanimous". Herald-Journal. Associated Press. January 30, 1981. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
8. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html
9. "Rag-tag team happens to be Seattle". Anchorage Daily News. June 2, 1981. Retrieved April 4, 2010.
10. "Dressing up". Milwaukee Journal. June 1, 1981. Retrieved February 24, 2012.
11. Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference
12. Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference
13. Phil Bradley page at Baseball Reference
14. Charlie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference
15. Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.93, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0
16. Johnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007

References

• 1981 Seattle Mariners
• 1981 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com