I want to set the scene for everyone at home, and make a long story very short. The Seattle Mariners in a two-year span traded away Ken Griffey Jr. to Cincinnati and lost Alex Rodriguez in free agency to Texas, two supremely talented players. One would rightfully assume that they would enter a rebuild and have their sights set on the long-term. The exact opposite happened.
Coming out of the 1990's, where they led the decade in homers, the Mariners transitioned from being a power-hitting juggernaut to focusing on plate discipline, putting the ball in play, and base running. Combined with sustainable pitching performances from Freddy Garcia, Jamie Moyer, Aaron Sele and others, the team tied a Major League record with the 1906 Chicago Cubs for most wins in a season with 116. Today, I go By The Numbers, and focus on what made this team offensively unique.
The Ichiro Factor:
Let us start the conversation with one player in particular: Ichiro Suzuki. Coming over from Japan, he was known for his elite hitting ability and baserunning, which translated seamlessly into Major League Baseball. As a result, he led baseball in both batting average (0.350) and stolen bases (56), resulting in a Batting Title, a Rookie of the Year trophy, an All-Star selection, a Gold Glove, a Silver Slugger, and NL MVP honors.
All The Experience:
Let us shift (and yes, pun intended), to Edgar Martinez, the original Designated Hitter. Already established as one of the great hitters in the game, the then 38-year old Martinez still posted high levels of productivity, with 23 homers, a batting average of 0.306, and an OPS+ of 160. When you complement the output of Ichiro and Edgar with the contributions of veteran players John Olerud, Bret Boone, and Mike Cameron (they combined for 83 moonshots), this is a roster that is offensively adept in several areas.
BB%, BABIP & wSB. Oh My!
As I mentioned above, the 2001 Mariners were highly skilled hitters, particularly when it came to their plate discipline. According to Fangraphs, Seattle had the second lowest SO rate (15.3%) and the fourth highest walk rate (9.5%). What gets downplayed about this squad is that they never beat themselves in the batter's box. They outlasted opposing pitchers and either drove up their pitch counts or waited for their pitch.
With all the hitting talent the 2001 Mariners had, they also put the ball in play quite a bit, finishing behind only Colorado in BABIP that season, with a mark of 0.320. On the base paths, they were also elite, as reflected in a Weighted Stolen Base Runs (wSB) mark of 16.2, meaning that the team collectively contributed approximately 16.2 additional runs from stealing bases, relative to the average club. Aside from Suzuki's 56 stolen bags, Mike Cameron and Mark McLemore each supplied 34 and 36 stolen bases respectfully.
The 2001 Seattle Mariners were not a star-studded offense one through nine. Instead, they had two or three Cooperstown caliber players, mixed with experienced, talented veterans, and built an offense that was fundamentally sound and productive. So productive, in fact, that they re-wrote the record books.
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