1988 Seattle Mariners season

The Seattle Mariners 1988 season was their 12th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing seventh in the American League West with a record of 68–93 (.422).

1988 Seattle Mariners
League	American League
Division	West
Ballpark	Kingdome
City	Seattle, Washington
Record	68–93 (.422)
Divisional place	7th
Owners	George Argyros
General managers	Dick Balderson, Woody Woodward
Managers	Dick Williams, Jim Snyder
Television	KIRO-TV 7
Radio	KIRO 710 AM (Dave Niehaus, Rick Rizzs, Joe Simpson)
← 1987 Seasons 1989 →

Offseason

• December 9, 1987: Phil Bradley and Tim Fortugno were traded by the Mariners to the Philadelphia Phillies for Glenn Wilson, Mike Jackson, and Dave Brundage (minors).^[1]
• December 21, 1987: John Moses was released by the Mariners.^[2]
• December 22, 1987: Lee Guetterman, Clay Parker, and Wade Taylor were traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Steve Trout and Henry Cotto.^[3]
• January 19, 1988: John Rabb was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.^[4]

Regular season

• Mark Langston became the ace of the pitching staff as he led the club in wins (15) and strikeouts (235).

Opening Day starters

• Mickey Brantley
• Alvin Davis
• Mike Kingery
• Ken Phelps
• Jim Presley
• Rey Quiñones
• Harold Reynolds
• Steve Trout
• Dave Valle
• Glenn Wilson^[5]

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL West

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Oakland Athletics	104	58	.642	—	54‍–‍27	50‍–‍31
Minnesota Twins	91	71	.562	13	47‍–‍34	44‍–‍37
Kansas City Royals	84	77	.522	19½	44‍–‍36	40‍–‍41
California Angels	75	87	.463	29	35‍–‍46	40‍–‍41
Chicago White Sox	71	90	.441	32½	40‍–‍41	31‍–‍49
Texas Rangers	70	91	.435	33½	38‍–‍43	32‍–‍48
Seattle Mariners	68	93	.422	35½	37‍–‍44	31‍–‍49

Record vs. opponents

1988 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	4–9	5–7	4–7	4–9	5–8	0–12	4–9	3–9	3–10	4–8	7–5	6–6	5–8
Boston	9–4	—	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–7	6–6	10–3	7–5	9–4	3–9	6–6	8–4	2–11
California	7–5	4–8	—	9–4	8–4	5–7	5–8	3–9	4–9	6–6	4–9	6–7	8–5	6–6
Chicago	7–4	5–7	4–9	—	3–9	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–9	3–9	5–8	9–4	8–5	7–5
Cleveland	9–4	5–8	4–8	9–3	—	4–9	6–6	9–4	5–7	6–7	4–8	5–7	6–6	6–7
Detroit	8–5	7–6	7–5	9–3	9–4	—	8–4	5–8	1–11	8–5	4–8	9–3	8–4	5–8
Kansas City	12–0	6–6	8–5	6–7	6–6	4–8	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	8–5	7–5	7–6	4–8
Milwaukee	9–4	3–10	9–3	6–6	4–9	8–5	9–3	—	7–5	6–7	3–9	8–4	8–4	7–6
Minnesota	9–3	5–7	9–4	9–4	7–5	11–1	6–7	5–7	—	3–9	5–8	8–5	7–6	7–5
New York	10–3	4–9	6–6	9–3	7–6	5–8	6–6	7–6	9–3	—	6–6	5–7	5–6	6–7
Oakland	8–4	9–3	9–4	8–5	8–4	8–4	5–8	9–3	8–5	6–6	—	9–4	8–5	9–3
Seattle	5–7	6–6	7–6	4–9	7–5	3–9	5–7	4–8	5–8	7–5	4–9	—	6–7	5–7
Texas	6–6	4–8	5–8	5–8	6–6	4–8	6–7	4–8	6–7	6–5	5–8	7–6	—	6–6
Toronto	8–5	11–2	6–6	5–7	7–6	8–5	8–4	6–7	5–7	7–6	3–9	7–5	6–6	—

Notable transactions

• May 23, 1988: John Christensen was released by the Mariners.^[6]
• June 1, 1988: Steve Balboni was signed as a free agent by the Mariners.^[7]
• June 1, 1988: Greg Pirkl was drafted by the Mariners in the 2nd round of the 1988 Major League Baseball draft. Player signed June 6, 1988.^[8]
• June 8, 1988: Manager Dick Williams was fired and replaced by interim manager Jim Snyder.
• July 21, 1988: Ken Phelps was traded by the Mariners to the New York Yankees for Jay Buhner, Rich Balabon (minors) and a player to be named later. The Yankees completed the deal by sending Troy Evers (minors) to the Mariners on October 12.^[9]
• July 22, 1988: Glenn Wilson was traded by the Mariners to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Darnell Coles.^[10]

Major League debuts

• Batters:
  • Greg Briley (June 27)
  • Bill McGuire (Aug 2)
• Pitchers:
  • Erik Hanson (Sep 5)
  • Mike Schooler (June 10)
  • Terry Taylor (Aug 19) ^[11]

Roster

1988 Seattle Mariners
Roster
Pitchers 15 Scott Bankhead 27 Mike Campbell 39 Erik Hanson 38 Mike Jackson 12 Mark Langston 25 Mike Moore 30 Edwin Núñez 48 Dennis Powell 31 Jerry Reed 40 Mike Schooler 19 Rod Scurry 37 Julio Solano 18 Bill Swift 44 Terry Taylor 34 Steve Trout 32 Gene Walter 13 Bill Wilkinson		Catchers  9 Scott Bradley 35 Bill McGuire 10 Dave Valle Infielders 45 Steve Balboni 21 Alvin Davis  5 Mario Díaz 11 Edgar Martínez 44 Ken Phelps 17 Jim Presley 51 Rey Quiñones  1 Rick Rentería  4 Harold Reynolds 35 Brick Smith		Outfielders 14 Mickey Brantley  8 Greg Briley 43 Jay Buhner  2 Darnell Coles 28 Henry Cotto 29 Bruce Fields 16 Dave Hengel  7 Mike Kingery 29,30 John Rabb 22 Glenn Wilson		Manager  6 Jim Snyder 23 Dick Williams Coaches 20 Howie Bedell 36 Billy Connors 33 Frank Howard  3 Bill Plummer 24 Phil Roof  6 Jim Snyder 32 Ozzie Virgil

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

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
C	Scott Bradley	103	335	86	.257	4	33
1B	Alvin Davis	140	478	141	.295	18	69
2B	Harold Reynolds	158	598	169	.283	4	41
3B	Jim Presley	150	544	125	.230	14	62
SS	Rey Quiñones	140	499	124	.248	12	52
LF	Mickey Brantley	149	577	152	.263	15	56
CF	Henry Cotto	133	386	100	.259	8	33
RF	Glenn Wilson	78	284	71	.250	3	17
DH	Ken Phelps	72	190	54	.284	14	32

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
Steve Balboni	97	350	88	.251	21	61
Dave Valle	93	290	67	.231	10	50
Darnell Coles	55	195	57	.292	10	34
Jay Buhner	60	192	43	.224	10	25
Mike Kingery	57	123	25	.203	1	9
Rick Rentería	31	88	18	.205	0	6
Mario Díaz	28	72	22	.306	0	9
Bruce Fields	39	67	18	.269	1	5
Dave Hengel	26	60	10	.167	2	7
Greg Briley	13	36	9	.250	1	4
Edgar Martínez	14	32	9	.281	0	5
Bill McGuire	9	16	3	.188	0	2
John Rabb	9	14	5	.357	0	4
Brick Smith	4	10	1	.100	0	1

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
Mark Langston	35	261.1	15	11	3.34	235
Mike Moore	37	228.2	9	15	3.78	182
Bill Swift	38	174.2	8	12	4.59	47
Scott Bankhead	21	135.0	7	9	3.07	102
Mike Campbell	20	114.2	6	10	5.89	63
Steve Trout	15	56.1	4	7	7.83	14
Erik Hanson	6	41.2	2	3	3.24	36
Terry Taylor	5	23.0	0	1	6.26	9

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
Edwin Núñez	14	29.1	1	4	7.98	19
Dennis Powell	12	18.2	1	3	8.68	15

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
Mike Schooler	40	5	8	15	3.54	54
Mike Jackson	62	6	5	4	2.63	76
Jerry Reed	46	1	1	1	3.96	48
Rod Scurry	39	0	2	2	4.02	33
Bill Wilkinson	30	2	2	2	3.48	25
Julio Solano	17	0	0	3	4.09	10
Gene Walter	16	1	0	0	5.13	13

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Calgary Cannons	Pacific Coast League	Bill Plummer and Marty Martínez
AA	Vermont Mariners	Eastern League	Rich Morales
A	San Bernardino Spirit	California League	Ralph Dick
A	Wausau Timbers	Midwest League	Rick Sweet
A-Short Season	Bellingham Mariners	Northwest League	P. J. Carey
Rookie	AZL Mariners/Red Sox	Arizona League	Mike Verdi and Myron Pines

AZL club affiliation shared with Boston Red Sox^[12]