Bellingham Mariners

Bellingham Mariners
1973–1996
Bellingham, Washington
Class-level
Previous Class A-Short Season
Minor league affiliations
League Northwest League
Major league affiliations
Previous
Minor league titles
League titles 3 (1977, 1980, 1986)
Team data
Previous names
  • Bellingham Giants (1995–1996)
  • Bellingham Mariners (1977–1994)
  • Bellingham Dodgers (1973–1976)
Previous parks
 Joe Martin Field (1973–1996)
Bellingham
Location in the United States
Bellingham
Location in Washington

The Bellingham Mariners were a Minor League Baseball team in the Class A-Short Season Northwest League, based in Bellingham, Washington.

The franchise arrived in 1973 as the Bellingham Dodgers, affiliated with the Los Angeles Dodgers for four seasons. They changed to the expansion Seattle Mariners in 1977 (Bellingham Mariners, or the "Baby M's" as they were popularly known), which lasted for 18 seasons, through 1994. The final two seasons in 1995 and 1996 were as the Bellingham Giants, the affiliate of the San Francisco Giants.

After three seasons in Medford and one season in Spokane in 1972, the Dodgers moved their NWL affiliate to Bellingham for 1973. The 1975 team gained unwanted national notoriety when it went winless for the first 25 games.[1][2][3] They ended the season at 17–61.

In 1987, 17-year-old Ken Griffey, Jr. hit his first professional home run while on the road at Everett Memorial Stadium. A plaque was placed on the sidewalk outside the stadium where the ball landed.[4]

The Bellingham franchise played at Joe Martin Field, a venue with a seating capacity near 1,600. The park is currently the home of the Bellingham Bells of the West Coast Collegiate Baseball League.[5]

Following the 1994 season, the Bellingham Mariners and Everett Giants swapped cities and the M's affiliate became the Everett AquaSox. After the 1996 season, the Bellingham Giants moved south to Keizer, Oregon, and became the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes.

Yearly record

Year MLB Club Record Finish Manager Playoffs
1973 Dodgers
(4 yrs.)		42–37 3rd Bill Berrier
1974 52–32 1st Bill Berrier League Finals
1975 17–61 6th Bill Berrier
1976 30–42 6th Bill Berrier
1977 Mariners
(18 yrs.) 		42–26 2nd Bobby Floyd League Champs[6][7][8]
1978 41–30 3rd Bob Didier
1979 41–31 3rd (t) Jeff Scott
1980 45–25 1st Jeff Scott Co-Champs w/ Eugene
1981 39–31 2nd Jeff Scott Playoffs
1982 33–37 3rd Jeff Scott
1983 40–28 2nd Jeff Scott Playoffs
1984 42–32 3rd Gary Pellant
1985 39–35 3rd (t) Gary Pellant
1986 45–29 1st (t) Sal Rende League Champs
1987 30–46 7th Rick Sweet
1988 25–51 8th P. J. Carey
1989 32–43 7th P. J. Carey
1990 32–44 6th P. J. Carey
1991 37–39 5th (t) Dave Myers
1992 43–33 1st (t) Dave Myers League Champs
1993 44–32 1st Mike Goff Playoffs
1994 42–34 3rd Mike Goff
1995 Giants
(2 yrs.) 		43–33 2nd Glenn Tufts League Finals
1996 39–36 4th Ozzie Virgil, Jr. /
Shane Turner

Source:[9][10][11]

Notable players

(Dodgers, Mariners, and Giants)

Source:[5][12]

See also

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hopper, Betty (July 13, 1975). "Bellingham Dodgers: maybe you can lose 'em all....". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. p. D1.
  2. ↑ "Northwest League standings". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. July 13, 1975. p. D2.
  3. ↑ "Bellingham ends string, starts over". Spokesman-Review. Spokane, Washington. Associated Press. July 14, 1975. p. 10.
  4. ↑ Baker, Geoff (August 29, 2008). "Fun is No. 1 at Everett AquaSox games". Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 2008-09-02. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  5. 1 2 "Joe Martin Field". Bellingham Bells. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Bellingham wins first playoff game". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 29, 1977. p. 5D.
  7. ↑ "NWL crown up for grabs". Eugene Register-Guard. Oregon. Associated Press. August 31, 1977. p. 5C.
  8. ↑ "Bellingham wins title". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Washington. Associated Press. September 1, 1977. p. 22.
  9. ↑ http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/about/page.jsp?ymd=20061214&content_id=148662&vkey=about_l126&fext=.jsp&sid=l126
  10. ↑ http://minors.baseball-reference.com/
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-12-15. Retrieved 2008-11-08.
  12. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-11-23. Retrieved 2009-03-12.

Coordinates: 48°44′49″N 122°27′36″W / 48.747°N 122.46°W / 48.747; -122.46

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