Inside The Mariners

Examining Players Who Shared Success With Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees

The New York Yankees are set to play in their 42nd World Series all-time on Friday; And they have a lot of shared connections with the Seattle Mariners who have yet to make a Fall Classic.

Teren Kowatsch

Seattle Mariners right fielder Jay Buhner hits during a game against the Cleveland Indians in 1995 at Jacobs Field.
Seattle Mariners right fielder Jay Buhner hits during a game against the Cleveland Indians in 1995 at Jacobs Field. / RVR Photos-Imagn Images
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At 5:08 p.m. PT on Friday, the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Dodgers, the two most storied franchises in the sport, will play in Game 1 of the World Series.

The two teams have a long history with each other. Before the New York Mets came to town, the Big Apple belonged to the Yankees and the Dodgers. The latter of the two resided in Brooklyn before moving to Los Angeles and settling down in Chavez Ravine.

The two teams will meet in the Fall Classic for the 12th time ever, the most championship matchups between two of the same team in the history of the sport.

But New York has another shared history with another team — the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners have been a franchise since 1977. That's 74 years less than the Yankees (established 1903). Seattle is also one of the few clubs in the majors that have yet to make a World Series. That's in stark contrast to New York, which has 41 American League pennants hanging from the rafters. The two squads met several times in the playoffs in the mid-90s and early-2000s.

The Mariners and Yankees have had several top-tier players suit up in the Emerald City and the Bronx. Those players include a Hall of Famer and a soon-to-be Hall of Famer.

Here's an overview of some of the players to wear the pinstripes and the green-and-blue:

1. Randy Johnson, pitcher (Seattle: 1989-1998, New York: 2005-06)

Before the 2015 Hall of Famer went on to win the 2001 World Series with the Arizona Diamondbacks (ironically against New York), he was making his name known in the Pacific Northwest.

Johnson pitched 10 seasons for Seattle. He won the first of five Cy Young awards with the Mariners in 1995 and earned 5-of-10 All-Star selections while calling the Kingdome his home.

Johnson posted an ERA of 3.42 in his decade with Seattle across 274 outings (266 starts). He had a 130-74 record and struck out 2,162 batters.

When Johnson joined the Yankees in 2005, he was on the tail end of his career. His last Cy Young award was in 2002 and his last All-Star selection was one year prior in 2004.

Johnson had a solid 2005 with New York before having a disappointing 2006. He posted a 3.79 ERA in 2005 that ballooned to a 5.00 mark in 2006. He finished his tenure in the Bronx with a 4.37 ERA with 383 strikeouts in 67 starts.

Ichiro Suzuki, outfielder (Seattle: 2001-2012, 2018-19; New York: 2012-14)

Suzuki is one of the most iconic players in Mariners history. In his first year in the league, he set the rookie single-season hit record with 242 and earned the American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards. He helped lead the franchise to the American League Championship Series in 2001, which was the last playoff appearance in franchise history before Seattle snapped the drought in 2022. He set the overall single-season hit mark with 262 hits in 2004.

Suzuki returned to the Mariners in 2018 after six-and-a-half years away from the team. He retired after in 2019. He finished his career with a .321 average, 2,542 hits, 99 homers and 633 RBIs in the better part of 13 years with the franchise.

Seattle moved Suzuki to the Yankees midseason in 2012 after he asked the team for a trade. Suzuki played with New York through 2014 and made his second career postseason appearance in 2012.

Suzuki had a .281 average with 311 hits, 13 home runs and 84 RBIs in two-and-a-half years with the Yankees.

Alex Rodriguez, infielder (Seattle: 1994-2000; New York 2004-2013, 2015-16)

Rodriguez is most famous (or infamous) for his time as a Yankee. He finished out his career with New York and won a World Series with the team in 2009. He won two of his three AL MVPs with the Yankees in 2005 and 2007. He finished his career with a .283 average, 351 home runs and 1,096 RBIs across 1,509 games played in New York.

Before A-Rod joined New York, he played three seasons with the Texas Rangers from 2001-03. Before that, he started his career by playing seven years in the Pacific Northwest.

Rodriguez was part of the Mariners' 1995 ALCS playoff run. He made four All-Star games with Seattle. He hit .309 with 189 home runs and 595 RBIs in 790 games with the Mariners.

Jay Buhner, outfielder (New York: 1987-88; Seattle: 1988-2001)

Buhner started with the Yankees. But he truly came into his own as a player with Seattle.

In two years with New York, he played 32 games total. He batted just .198 with three homers and 14 RBIs.

Buhner ended up spending 14 years with the Mariners. He was on the team for all four of its playoff seasons before 2022. He made his lone All-Star game in 1996 and won his only Gold Glove in the same year.

He finished his career in Seattle with a .255 batting average, 307 home runs and 951 RBIs in 1,440 games. He had a three-year streak of hitting at least 40 home runs from 1995-97.

Tino Martinez, infielder (Seattle: 1990-95; New York: 1996-2001, 2005)

Martinez played an even six respective seasons with the Mariners and Yankees across his first 12 major league years. He made his first All-Star game in his last year with Seattle in 1995. In six seasons in the Emerald City, Martinez had a .265 batting average with 88 home runs and 312 RBIs in 543 games.

Martinez made his second All-Star game in his second season with New York in 1997. Martinez won all four of his World Series championships with the Yankees in 1996 and 1998-2000. He finished his career in the pinstripes in 2005 after stints with the St. Louis Cardinals and Tampa Bay Rays. He finished his time in New York with a .276 average, 192 homers and 739 RBIs in 1,054 total games.

Jeff Nelson, pitcher (Seattle: 1992-95, 2001-03, 2005; New York: 1996-2000, 2003)

Nelson had three stints with the Mariners totaling eight years and two stints with the Yankees totaling six seasons.

Nelson started his career by playing four major league years with Seattle. He made his only career All-Star game in 2001 during the Mariners' ALCS season. He had a 3.26 ERA in 432 appearances. He struck out 471 batters and recorded 23 saves.

Like Martinez, Nelson won four World Series titles with New York in 1996, 1998-2000. With the Yankees, Nelson had a 3.47 ERA and nine saves to go with 334 fanned batters in 331 appearances.

There's been a lot of shared history and greatness among players who've suited up for the Yankees and Seattle.

Maybe in the future, the Mariners can have some of the postseason success that a lot of their former players had with New York.

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Teren Kowatsch
TEREN KOWATSCH

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