M's In the 2000s: A Series of Fun Facts

Everyone has some sort of decade in review of their own. Time to add mine to the masses. Staying true to this blog's title, this post is a true Mariners musing. Here is a review of the decade that was for the Seattle Mariners, in a series of fun facts:

• Average regular season record (rounded to the nearest win) in the decade: 84-78
• 9-10 record in postseason games in the decade
• Three general managers and five managers in the decade
• Two Rookies of the Year (Kazuhiro Sasaki in 2000, and Ichiro in 2001)
• One MVP (Ichiro in 2001)
• One Manager of the Year (Lou Piniella in 2001)
• One All-Star Game hosted (2001)
• No Cy Young awards or World Championships

Here are some fun facts about the hitters:

• Ichiro played the most games (1,426). Raul Ibanez played the second most (847).
• Ichiro had the most hits of any Mariner in the decade with 2,030. Not a big surprise. What's incredible is that he had almost 400 more than #2 and #3 combined.
• Ichiro had more intentional walks (142) than #2 through #4 combined (130)
• Ichiro had more triples (68) than #2 through #5 combined (67)
• Ichiro had more steals (341) than #2 through #5 combined (325)
• Ichiro also led the team in at-bats, plate appearances, runs, doubles, and hit-by-pitches
• Most RBIs in the decade? That's Ichiro too, with 515.
• Bret Boone hit more home runs than any other Mariner in the decade (127)
• Dan Wilson had more sacrifice hits (a.k.a. successful bunts) than any other Mariner (37)
• Mike Cameron struck out the most times (601)
• John Olerud drew the most walks (418), had the most sacrifice flies (36), and grounded into the most double plays (83)

The pitchers aren't quite as fun to look at as the hitters. Their biggest problem is that none of them are Ichiro:

• Jamie Moyer had the most wins (93), complete games (10), and innings pitched (1,371.1)
• Arthur Rhodes made the most pitching appearances (312)
• Aaron Sele pitched more complete game shutouts (4) than any other M's starter this decade
• Kazuhiro Sasaki notched the most saves (129), though J.J. Putz finished the most games (207)
• Felix Hernandez struck out more batters (810) and threw more wild pitches (46) than any other Mariner
• Ryan Franklin balked the most (six times)

Finally, my personal favorite, which is hard to believe but true...

• Ken Griffey Jr. started and ended the decade a Seattle Mariner

Weren't those fun? They were definitely facts.