Seattle Mariners...2001

[Wade8813]

I've said this to my friends, now I'll say it here, and I stand by it:after 9-11 the M's were a different team.

I've said the exact same thing for years. I think part of it was that those guys were strong emotionally - they worked well together, had a lot of fun, etc. I think that post - 9/11, they lost that emotional bond.

[No Pink Tea]

The 2001 M's had four players with 90+ RBI, 6 players with HR total in double figures, every pitcher had a winning percentage over .500 (except for our closer Sasaki, but I think he led the AL in saves), and we lost against the damn Yankees in the ALCS. It was a good year, but I got my hopes up in the post season, only to be let down.

Yeah, not making it to the series was a huge letdown.
I've said this to my friends, now I'll say it here, and I stand by it:after 9-11 the M's were a different team. Those 2 weeks off didn't seem to help any team but it totally halted us to a complete stop. A's sweep us in Oakland after not getting swept all year. Our clutch hitting disappeared and our pitching started to come apart. All this and poor Carlos Guillen got the tuberculosis!

[Seattle1]

Road 59 22 487 350 .728

Now that you post that, I think that's an all-time best record for road wins and road w-l pct. in a season too, if I am not mistaken.

[Rennie Stennett]

road warriors

They were also road warriors, I think they had the best road record in the league that year.

Home/Road
Split W L RS RA WP
Home 57 24 440 277 .704
Road 59 22 487 350 .728

Also 20-5 in April with a 9 game lead in the divison, which included a 15-4 record to open season against the West. 40-12 with a 14 game lead after May. They lost 7 games in June but upped their lead to 20 games and coasted the rest of the way.

Arthur Rhodes was a stud that year (8-0) in 68 games with 3 saves.

[Seattle1]

They were also road warriors, I think they had the best road record in the league that year.

[Griffey24-30]

The 2001 M's had four players with 90+ RBI, 6 players with HR total in double figures, every pitcher had a winning percentage over .500 (except for our closer Sasaki, but I think he led the AL in saves), and we lost against the damn Yankees in the ALCS. It was a good year, but I got my hopes up in the post season, only to be let down.

[Rennie Stennett]

race to 116

I was looking at the standings and you guys won like 116 games that year. I can't remember this though. Why were you guys so dominate? I know Arod was gone, wasn't Griffey and Johnson too?

It was a great season, but the M's didn't match the Cubbies of 1906 in (154) games, which many people say does not matter.

What I remember about that team is that everyone gave themselves up, all season. When ever they needed a fly ball or a ground ball to the right, it happened. There was clutch hitting, tough pitching and good defense.

The M's also jumped out to an incredible start, in which they went like 19-3 in their first 22 games all against the division.

[Wade8813]

Has the league ever figured out Ichiro?

No, but he seemed to be giving them fits before, but now they expect it, and just take it in stride. His results are about the same, but it has a little less of a psychological impact, IMO. Hard to say one way or the other, though.

[SABR Matt]

Has the league ever figured out Ichiro?

As for why we were so good? We scored 900 runs in a park that averages more like 740, we had an extremely good bullpen, one of the best team defenses in baseball and league average pitching that got a lot of help from said defense. It was a very good formula.

[Wade8813]

Yeah, it was quite interesting. We got rid of all of our best players, then won all the time.

We had a career year from Boone. Ichiro had just joined, and the league didn't know how to handle him. We had a lot of good hitters, we had phenomenal defense, and we had a solid rotation from top to bottom.

[DodgerBlue8188]

I was looking at the standings and you guys won like 116 games that year. I can't remember this though. Why were you guys so dominate? I know Arod was gone, wasn't Griffey and Johnson too?