2001 Seattle Mariners Not the Greatest Baseball Team of All-Time
In 2001 the Seattle Mariners won 116 regular season games and lost just 46 times. Their winning percentage of .716 is the 6th best in baseball history and 5th best since 1900.
The Mariners had a winning record vs every other team in the American League in 2001. The only team that gave them any problems in the regular season was the Oakland A's who they beat 10 out of 19 times. The A's won 102 games that year in finishing 2nd the Mariners in the West.
The Mariners did beat up on bad teams as they went 62-20 (.756) against teams with below .500 records. But they also beat teams with above .500 records 54-26 at a .675 rate. It was a remarkable regular season but the 2001 Mariners had flaws.
2001 Seattle Mariners Lost in the Playoffs
The Mariners had a tough time but managed to beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 in the Division Series but the defending World Series Champion New York Yankees had no trouble defeating the Mariners in 5 games.
No team can be considered the best ever if it lost in the playoffs or World Series. A great regular season record might have been the result of weak competition and a team has to validate its regular season by winning the World Series.
2001 Mariners had Weakness in Pitching
In 2001 in the American League the league average ERA was 4.47. The Mariners had a starting pitcher with an ERA well above that.
P John Halama - 17 starts, 31 games pitched with 4.73 ERA
Because other teams in major league baseball history had every starting pitcher with ERA's below the league average the Mariners cannot be considered the best team ever.
2001 Mariners had Weaknesses on Offense
In 2001 in the American League there were 11,013 runs scored in 78,143 at-bats for a run average of .141. The Mariners had two starting position players with run averages well below the league average.
C Dan Wilson - 44 runs scored in 370 AB's for run average of .119
3B David Bell - 62 runs scored in 470 AB's for run average of .132
Catcher Dan Wilson and third baseman David Bell were below average runs scorers in 2001.
2001 Seattle Mariners Had Too Many Flaws to Be Considered Best Team Ever
Not only did the 2001 Seattle Mariners lose in the playoffs they all also had weaknesses in their pitching and on offense. Because other teams in baseball history won the World Series with no weaknesses in pitching or on offense the Mariners cannot be considered the greatest team in baseball history.
In 2001 the Mariners had a great regular season and are arguably the greatest regular season team of all-time but they were not the greatest team in baseball history.
For more see Big Red Machine Not Best Team Ever
1927 Murders Row Yankees Not Best Ever
1929-1931 Philadelphia A's Not Best Team Ever
1906-1908 Chicago Cubs Not Best Team Ever
Sources:
Published by Joe Dorish
Joe Dorish is a writer who lives in the NYC area. He writes primarily about the things he is passionate about - sports, business, economics, weather and travel. He loves to drive and used to own a Limo company. View profile
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5 Comments
Post a CommentDan, you said the article is pointless. From your viewpoint it is but try having a few dozen people leave comments on your article about the greatest teams ever saying the 2001 Mariners are the best team ever. I'm just covering all my bases with this article.
I dont understand your disagreement as I stated that they are overlooked and arent the greatest of all time but at least desreve to be in any top tne list.
I'd put the 2001 Seattle Mariners in the top 5 Regular Season teams all time along with the 1954 Cleveland Indians and 1906 Chicago Cubs but all three teams did not win the World Series.
Dan, I've written about the greatest teams in baseball history and people keep leaving comments saying I forgot about the 2001 Mariners. I did not forget but they cannot be considered the greatest team because they lost in the playoffs and had other flaws. So from now on when someone tells me they were the greatest or one of the greatest teams ever I point them to this article.
This article is pointless as very few people including mariner fans refer to this as the best team ever assembled. So every thing your saying is right but this team is one of the least appercated in baseball history and rather makes peoples top ten lists. You can claim that they were worst than there record would have you belive but they are clearly in the top 10 if not top 5 of the greatest baseball tems ever assembled. If they had won the ws like many expected no one would even doubt them.