1981 Seattle Mariners season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Seattle Mariners
season = 1981
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1977
division = Western Division
y2 = 1977
Uniform logo =
ballpark = Kingdome
y4 = 1977
city = Seattle, Washington
y5 = 1977
owners = Danny Kaye
managers = Maury Wills and Rene Lachemann
television = KING-TV
radio = KVI 570 AM
(Dave Niehaus, Ken Wilson, Don Poier)|

The Seattle Mariners 1981 season was their 5th since the franchise creation, and ended the season finishing 6th in the American League West, finishing with a record of 44-65. Due to the 1981 player's strike, the division's were split in half, pre-strike and post-strike results. The Mariners finished 6th with a 21-36 record in the first half and 5th with a 23-29 record in the second half.

Offseason

*December 8, 1980: Gary Gray was selected by the Mariners from the Cleveland Indians in the rule 5 draft. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/grayga01.shtml Gary Gray page at Baseball Reference] ]
*December 12, 1980: Byron McLaughlin was traded by the Mariners to the Minnesota Twins for Willie Norwood. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/n/norwowi01.shtml Willie Norwood page at Baseball Reference] ]
*December 12, 1980: Willie Horton, Larry Cox, Rick Honeycutt, Mario Mendoza, and Leon Roberts were traded by the Mariners to the Texas Rangers for Richie Zisk, Rick Auerbach, Ken Clay, Jerry Don Gleaton, Brian Allard, and Steve Finch (minors). [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/hortowi01.shtml Willie Horton page at Baseball Reference] ]

Regular season

On April 25, 1981, Mariners manager Maury Wills advised the Kingdome groundskeepers to enlarge the batter's box by a foot. A's manager Billy Martin noticed. Martin showed umpire Bill Kunkel that the batter's box was seven feet long instead of six feet. Martin felt that batters being able to move up a foot in the box could cut at pitches before a curveball broke. Wills was suspended for two games and fined $500. [http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/cheaters/ballplayers.html]

eason standings

Transactions

*March 26, 1981: Dave Heaverlo was released by the Mariners. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/h/heaveda01.shtml Dave Heaverlo page at Baseball Reference] ]
*March 26, 1981: Willie Norwood was released by the Seattle Mariners.
*April 8, 1981: Manny Sarmiento was traded by the Mariners to the Boston Red Sox for Dick Drago. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/d/dragodi01.shtml Dick Drago page at Baseball Reference] ]
*April 8, 1981: Bob Galasso was signed as a free agent by the Mariners. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/galasbo01.shtml Bob Galasso page at Baseball Reference] ]
*June 8, 1981: 1981 Major League Baseball Draft
**Phil Bradley was drafted by the Mariners in the 3rd round. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/bradlph01.shtml Phil Bradley page at Baseball Reference] ]
**Charlie O'Brien was drafted by the Mariners in the 21st round, but did not sign. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/o/o'brich01.shtml Charlie O'Brien page at Baseball Reference] ]

Roster

Pitching

tarting pitchers

Awards and records

*Julio Cruz, American League record, Most Chances Accepted in one nine-inning game (18 chances on June 7, 1981) [Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Figures, 2008 Edition, p.93, David Nemec and Scott Flatow, A Signet Book, Penguin Group, New York, NY, ISBN 978-0-451-22363-0]

References

External links

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SEA/1981.shtml 1981 Seattle Mariners]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1981&t=SEA 1981 Seattle Mariners team page at www.baseball-almanac.com]