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	San Francisco Giants (1995–1996) Seattle Mariners (1977–1994) Los Angeles Dodgers (1973–1976)
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. 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.

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.

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
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:

Notable players

(Dodgers, Mariners, and Giants)

• Bud Black
• Phil Bradley
• Iván Calderón
• Ken Griffey, Jr.
• Pedro Guerrero
• Dave Henderson
• Raúl Ibáñez
• Mark Langston
• Derek Lowe
• Edgar Martínez
• Joe Nathan
• Russ Ortiz
• Jim Presley
• Dave Stewart
• Mike Scioscia
• Rick Sutcliffe
• Dave Valle
• Omar Vizquel

Source:

See also

• Bellingham Dodgers players   (1973–1976)
• Bellingham Mariners players   (1977–1994)
• Bellingham Giants players   (1995–1996)

See also

• Everett AquaSox
• Salem-Keizer Volcanoes
• Bellingham Bells

External links

• Baseball Reference