1981 Seattle Mariners season

March 2026 November 2013 Seattle Mariners 1981 American League West Kingdome Seattle, Washington George Argyros Dan O'Brien Sr. Maury Wills - (6–18)Rene Lachemann - (38–47) KING-TV KVI 570 AM(Dave Niehaus, Ken Wilson,Don Poier) The 1981 Seattle Mariners season was their fifth since the franchise creation, and were sixth in the American League West at 44 65 y. Due to the 1981 player's strike, the season was split in half, with pre-strike and post-strike results. The Mariners were sixth in the division in the first half at 21 36 y, and fifth in the second half at 23 29 y. The strike began on June 12 and regular season play resumed on August 10.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=aM5eAAAAIBAJ&sjid=xTIMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2311%2C4281767 Lewiston Morning Tribune Associated Press It's a mixed review for the second season August 11, 1981 1C Manager Maury Wills was fired on May 6 with a 6 18 y record, the M's worst start yet;https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CPlVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=SeIDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6636%2C2022758 Eugene Register-Guard wire services Wills replaced by the Mariners May 7, 1981 2C he was succeeded by 36-year-old Rene Lachemann, the manager at Triple-A Spokane.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=1FVOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=4-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=6796%2C3169187 Spokesman-Review Blanchette John Wills fired; M's turn to 'Lach' May 7, 1981 25https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=wVtOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=UPkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6705%2C1897106 Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington Stewart Chuck Oh, beautiful day! May 7, 1981 37 Offseason thumb|135px|Ken Clay was traded to the Mariners during the off-season November 18, 1980: Brad Gulden was traded by the New York Yankees with $150,000 to the Mariners for a player to be named later and Larry Milbourne; the Mariners sent back Gulden to the Yankees on May 18, 1981 to complete the trade.https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/guldebr01.shtml Brad Gulden Stats In effect, Gulden was traded for himself. December 8: Gary Gray was selected by the Mariners from the Cleveland Indians in the Rule 5 draft.Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference December 12: Byron McLaughlin was traded by the Mariners to the Minnesota Twins for Willie Norwood.Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference December 12: 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.Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference March 7, 1981: Traded Carlos Diaz to the Atlanta Braves for Jeff Burroughs.March 8, 1981 Braves Trade Burroughs To Mariners for Reliever en-US The New York Times Associated Press https://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/08/sports/braves-trade-burroughs-to-mariners-for-reliever.html March 15, 2023 0362-4331 March 26: Norwood and Dave Heaverlo were released.Dave Heaverlo page at Baseball Reference Regular season Season standings Record vs. opponents SEA Season summary thumb| 135px |Jerry Narron caught 65 games for the Mariners. On January 14, 1981, the Mariners' were sold to George Argyros, a California real estate developer, for an estimated $12.5 million.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=VE9OAAAAIBAJ&sjid=z-4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7128%2C6135383 Spokesman-Review Associated Press Agreement reached on Mariners sale January 15, 1981 21https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/15/sports/california-developer-set-to-purchase-the-mariners.html California Developer Set To Purchase the Mariners January 15, 1981 Associated Press The New York Times April 4, 2010 The sale of the team, which needed the approval of 10 of 14 owners of American League teams, received a unanimous vote of consent on January 29.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=D0osAAAAIBAJ&sjid=uc0EAAAAIBAJ&pg=2486%2C5394364 Spartanburg Herald South Carolina Associated Press White Sox, Mariners sales are unanimous January 30, 1981 B2 On April 25, Mariners' manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot (0.3 m), and A's manager Billy Martin noticed. He showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was 7 ft in in length (instead of six). 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; https://www.espn.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html Page2 - Biggest cheaters in baseball ESPNhttps://news.google.com/newspapers?id=lVtOAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RPkDAAAAIBAJ&pg=2885%2C3039934 Spokane Daily Chronicle Washington Associated Press Wills dealt suspension April 28, 1981 20 he was fired on May 6. While in Arlington in late May to play the Texas Rangers, the Mariners' uniforms were stolen. For the May 30 game against the Rangers, Seattle wore their batting practice jerseys, Milwaukee Brewers' caps, and Rangers' batting helmets.https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Vh0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=IacEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3499,304211&dq=seattle+mariners&hl=en Rag-tag team happens to be Seattle June 2, 1981 Anchorage Daily News April 4, 2010 October 2026 InternetArchiveBot The Mariners purchased the Brewers caps at the Rangers' souvenir-stand; the Rangers did not offer Seattle caps for sale.Dressing up http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee455/chancemichaels/MarinersUniformsStolen.jpg Milwaukee Journal June 1, 1981 February 24, 2012thumb|135px|Tom Paciorek hit .326 and then was traded after the seasonJourneyman Tom Paciorek put together a career season with the M's in 1981. Playing full-time for the only time in his career at age 34, he batted .326, second in the American League,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=n4RfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=_TAMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2595%2C2000719 Lewiston Morning Tribune Associated Press Baseball: Mariners reject demands by Paciorek November 5, 1981 3B and was fourth in the AL in slugging percentage. Paciorek earned his only appearance to an All-Star team and was tenth in the AL MVP race. After a request for increased compensation and a three-year contract, the Mariners traded him in December 1981 to the Chicago White Sox for three players, Rod Allen, Todd Cruz, and Jim Essian,https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jZxfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=rDEMAAAAIBAJ&pg=2736%2C5548179 Lewiston Morning Tribune Associated Press Goodbye: Seattle makes Paciorek an offer he could refuse December 12, 1981 5B none of whom made an impact with Seattle. Paciorek hit over .300 his first two years with the Sox and was part of Chicago's division championship team in 1983. Seattle drafted three future All-Stars in the 1981 MLB draft, selecting Mike Moore with the first overall pick, as well as Mark Langston and Phil Bradley.1981 Seattle Mariners Picks in the MLB June Amateur Draft https://www.baseball-reference.com/draft/ 2026-03-20 Baseball-Reference.com en Notable transactions April 6, 1981: Lenny Randle signed as a free agent.1981 Seattle Mariners Trades and Transactions https://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1981-transactions.shtml 2026-03-20 Baseball-Reference.com en April 8: Manny Sarmiento was traded by the Mariners to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Drago.Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference April 8: Bob Galasso signed as a free agent with the Mariners.Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference June 8: 1981 Major League Baseball draft: Mike Moore was selected with the first overall pick in the first round.Rosenblatt Richard June 8, 1981 Mariners draft and sign Moore United Press International https://www.upi.com/Archives/1981/06/08/Mariners-draft-and-sign-Moore/2098360820800/ March 20, 2023 He received a $100,000 signing bonus. Mark Langston was selected in the second round. Phil Bradley was selected in the third round. Lee Guetterman was selected in the fourth round. Charlie O'Brien was selected in the 21st round but did not sign. 1981 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 (Hitting) 35 Frank Funk (Pitching) 10 Cananea Reyes (First Base) 32 Wes Stock (Pitching) 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 Jerry Narron 76 203 45 .222 3 17 1B Bruce Bochte 99 335 87 .260 6 30 2B Julio Cruz Julio Cruz (baseball) 94 352 90 .256 2 24 SS Jim Anderson 70 162 33 .204 2 19 3B Dan Meyer Dan Meyer (first baseman) 83 252 66 .262 3 22 LF Tom Paciorek 104 405 132 .326 14 66 CF Joe Simpson 91 288 64 .222 2 30 RF Jeff Burroughs 89 319 81 .254 10 41 DH Richie 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 Lenny Randle 82 273 63 .231 4 25 Gary Gray Gary Gray (baseball) 69 208 51 .245 13 31 Bud Bulling 62 154 38 .247 2 15 Dave Henderson 59 126 21 .167 6 13 Paul Serna 30 94 24 .255 4 9 Rick Auerbach 38 84 13 .155 1 6 Dave Edler 29 78 11 .141 0 5 Jim Maler 12 23 8 .348 0 2 Casey Parsons 36 22 5 .227 1 5 Vance McHenry 15 18 4 .222 0 2 Brad Gulden 8 16 3 .188 0 1 Reggie Walton Reggie Walton (baseball) 12 6 0 .000 0 0 Kim Allen 19 3 0 .000 0 0 Dan 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 Glenn Abbott 22 130.1 4 9 3.94 35 Floyd Bannister 21 121.1 9 9 4.45 85 Jim Beattie Jim Beattie (baseball) 13 66.2 3 2 2.97 36 Brian Allard 7 48 3 2 3.75 20 Bob 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 Ken Clay 22 101 2 7 4.63 32 Bryan Clark 29 93.1 2 5 4.34 52 Jerry Don Gleaton 20 85.1 4 7 4.75 31 Mike Parrott 24 85.0 3 6 5.08 43 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 Shane Rawley 46 4 6 8 3.95 35 Larry Andersen 41 3 3 5 2.66 40 Dick Drago 39 4 6 5 5.53 27 Bob Galasso 13 1 1 1 4.83 14 Randy Stein 6 0 1 0 10.61 6 Bud Black 2 0 0 0 0.00 0 Awards and records Julio Cruz set an American League (AL) record and tied an MLB record with 18 fielding chances without an error in a nine-inning game on June 7Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.93, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, 978-0-451-22363-0Julio Cruz https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/julio-cruz/ 2026-03-20 Society for American Baseball Research Designated hitter Richie Zisk won the Sporting News AL Comeback Player of the Year Award.The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award https://www.baseball-almanac.com/awards/comeback_player_of_the_year_award.shtml 2026-03-20 Baseball Almanac Farm system Minor League Baseball 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: WausauJohnson, Lloyd, and Wolff, Miles, ed., The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball, 2nd and 3rd editions. Durham, North Carolina: Baseball America, 1997 and 2007 References 2 External links Baseball 1981 Seattle Mariners at Baseball Reference 1981 Seattle Mariners team page at Baseball Almanac Category:Seattle Mariners seasons Seattle Mariners season Seattle Mariners