Before the Mariners were enfranchised into Major League Baseball, there were the Seattle Pilots. During the 1969 expansion, the Pilots had their opening day a couple of years ahead of time as they were not set to start to play until 1971 along with the new Kansas City Royals. But Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri pressured MLB as he would not accept not having baseball in Kansas City for three years. The A’s moved to Oakland after the 1967 season. The American League would not allow just one new team to be added because it would create an unbalanced schedule, so the Pilots and Royals were admitted together. The Pilots only played one season in Seattle due to financial problems and eventually were sold. They relocated to Milwaukee and became the Brewers for the 1970 season.
The Mariners came into being due to a lawsuit by the city of Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington for breach of contract for the Pilot’s purchase and relocation by Milwaukee's future Commissioner, Bud Selig, then the owner. Seattle was promised an expansion franchise in 1976 and to keep the league even, another expansion was awarded to Toronto, the Blue Jays.
The Mariners began play in 1977 and was owned by several Seattle business leaders along with entertainer Danny Kaye. Their stadium was the Seattle Kingdome which was originally slated for the Seattle Pilots but became home to the Seattle Seahawks of the NFL in 1976 and in 1977 home to the Mariners.
The Mariners have strong links to the Pilots in more ways than just location and the Stadium. Pitcher Diego Segui was the only player to play for both teams. Also of note, he was the opening day pitcher for the Pilots in 1969 and the opening day pitcher for the Mariners in 1977. After the first season, the Mariners' record was 64-98, the same record the Pilots held in just one season in Seattle.
Seattle has had more losing seasons than winning ones. They climbed over .500 for the first time in 1991 with a record of 83 – 79. Most of the Mariners' winning seasons had come with Lou Piniella as manager and the only manager who got them to the playoffs. With such a drought of winnings seasons, the Mariners do hold the record for most wins in the modern era with 116 in 2001, tied with the Cubs of 1906.
Hall of Famers that are most closely related to the Mariners are Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, and soon, Ichiro Suzuki.
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