In 2011, the Seattle Mariners lost 17 straight games from July 6th – July 26th. If you are new to the Mariners, this is not a surprise; the franchise has toiled in below-mediocrity since their 116-win, 2001 season. One could go on for days talking of pathetic games, seasons, individual performances or head-shaking managerial/front office maneuvers. With that being said, let’s talk pathetic losing streaks! As an aside, despite my self-deprecating Mariner talk, I still love them (for some reason I cannot explain) and spend my summers glued to seemingly every pitch of their seasons.

Let’s first look at the 2011 Mariners as a whole. Under manager Eric Wedge, they finished the season 67-95, dead last in the AL West. However, improved they were from their 2010 campaign, in which Don Wakamatsu and Daren Brown led the club to a 61-101 record. 2011 saw them move on from the Jose Lopez-era and enter a new chapter of Mariner baseball; one with hope, optimism and promise, with top-prospect Dustin Ackley on the horizon. Spoiler alert, nothing good happened. The July losing streak saw Seattle fall from 43-43 to 43-60, as well as move from 2.5 games out of the divisional race to, from a fan’s perspective, a much more comfortable 15.5 games out. Their 6-20 July, though horrid, is surprisingly not quite on the level of some of the worst months in the last 30-odd years in the MLB: the 1988 Baltimore Orioles went 1-22 in April, losing a painful 21 straight to begin the season. As well, the Mariners division rival Houston Astros went on to go 3-24 in July of 2012. So there are some positives. Please bare in mind however, that despite losing 17 in a row, this is by no means the worst team in the history of the club, not even close.

Featured here will be all sorts of information from their losing streak: some statistics, highlighting some specific games and players, and a look at the culmination of the streak. It will be a lot of fun, in a sick, twisted, sinister manner; but when you root, root root for the Marrrrrrrriners its what your fandom has become.

The Results

Date Opponent Score July 6 @ Oakland L 2-0 July 7 @ Los Angeles Angels L 5-1 July 8 @ Los Angeles Angels L 4-3 July 9 @ Los Angeles Angels L 9-3 July 10 @ Los Angeles Angels L 4-2 July 14 Texas L 5-0 July 15 Texas L 4-0 July 16 Texas L 5-1 July 17 Texas L 3-1 July 19 @ Toronto L 6-5 (14 innings) July 20 @ Toronto L 11-6 July 21 @ Toronto L 7-5 July 22 @ Boston L 7-4 July 23 @ Boston L 3-1 July 24 @ Boston L 12-8 July 25 @ New York Yankees L 10-3 July 26 @ New York Yankees L 4-1

As you can see, in the middle of this streak, Seattle got swept in four straight series’. Here are some overall numbers from the 17 games:

Outscored 101-44… lol

Shutout three times

Scored two runs or less nine times

Do I go on?

The Player Stats

The only thing more shocking than some of these statistics is the fact that the Mariners were running some of these guys out there on an everyday basis. All you Mariners fans will have some fun reading the names of some of these fine gentlemen who wore the navy blue, northwest green, silver and white.

Offense:

PA HR RBI BB% K% AVG wOBA wRC+ WAR Brendan Ryan 73 2 9 4.1 23.3 .309 .353 128 0.9 Dustin Ackley 72 1 7 5.6 19.4 .279 .327 110 0.5 Franklin Gutierrez 57 0 0 7.0 19.3 .212 .231 45 0.2 Mike Carp 29 2 4 3.4 24.1 .321 .409 166 0.2 Jack Wilson 8 0 1 12.5 0 .286 .309 98 0.0 Josh Bard 20 0 2 5.0 25.0 .211 .270 71 0.0 Chone Figgins 22 0 1 18.2 22.7 .111 .207 29 -0.1 Carlos Peguero 13 0 0 7.7 69.2 .167 .190 17 -0.1 Jack Cust 20 0 0 0.0 50.0 .200 .216 35 -0.2 Kyle Seager 25 0 0 12.0 28.0 .136 .190 17 -0.2 Greg Halman 35 1 3 0.0 40.0 .176 .218 36 -0.2 Adam Kennedy 56 1 3 3.6 16.1 .189 .209 30 -0.3 Miguel Olivo 57 2 8 0.0 26.3 .211 .243 53 -0.3 Ichiro Suzuki 76 0 4 5.3 9.2 .211 .217 36 -0.4 Justin Smoak 63 0 2 6.3 19.0 .138 .169 3 -0.7

Okay, this is a lot to unpack. As you can see, they hit a whopping nine home runs on the streak, not good. During the streak, they had two everyday players with an on-base percentage over .300. They had one everyday player with a batting average over .300, and only two everyday players with an average over .212. Let’s explore some specific individual stats from the 17 games:

Franklin Gutierrez was third on the roster in WAR (because of his above average fielding) despite recording no home runs, no RBIs, and batting .212

Miguel Olivo did not walked once in 57 plate appearances? My goodness

(Though not included in the chart) Ichiro had an ISO of .014…. hahahaha

Justin Smoak having a wRC+ of… 3…

Pitching:

Losses IP Hits ERA HR FIP WAR Doug Fister 3 26.2 25 4.73 1 3.74 0.4 Jeff Gray 0 8.1 8 2.16 0 2.91 0.1 Blake Beaven 2 19.2 21 3.66 3 4.65 0.1 Josh Lueke 0 2.0 3 4.50 0 2.03 0.0 Brandon League 0 2.0 1 0.00 0 2.53 0.0 Felix Hernandez 2 21.0 26 5.14 4 5.03 0.0 David Pauley 3 8.2 9 6.23 1 4.53 0.0 Michael Pineda 2 15.2 21 10.91 4 5.13 0.0 Chris Ray 0 8.1 8 4.32 1 5.43 -0.1 Aaron Laffey 0 5.1 12 10.13 2 7.90 -0.3 Jason Vargas 4 21.0 30 6.86 6 6.83 -0.3 Jamey Wright 1 7.0 9 10.29 3 10.03 -0.4 As apparent, the pitching statistics weren’t much better. While hitting just nine big flies, the staff gave up 25! Excluding Josh Lueke and Brandon League’s two innings apiece, during the streak only one pitcher registered an ERA sub-3.00, and only two sub-4.00. Let’s explore some specific individual stats: David Pauley managed to lose three games while pitching just 8.2 innings in relief

Jason Vargas lost all four of his starts He also gave up six home runs in 21 innings!

Michael Pineda’s ERA…

We will leave you alone Jamey Wright

Some Forgettable Games