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The Mariners (11-17), with three walk-off losses on the just-completed 10-game road trip, are on a pace to shatter the franchise record for most walk-off defeats in a single season.
Mike Schooler yielded a record 15 walk-off hits during his Seattle career (1988-92). / Topps
“We’ll turn the page. There are good days ahead for this ballclub. This is a very good ballclub and they’re built to win. It’s a long season. This team will be okay.”
Lloyd McClendon issued those optimistic remarks to reporters Wednesday night following a 4-3 Mariners gag to the L.A. Angels that ended one of the lamer road trips of McClendon’s tenure.
After sweeping last-place Texas, not easily, the Mariners were broomed in four at Houston before losing two of three to the Angels. Included in the six defeats: three walk-offs, one by the Astros and pair to end the Angels series.
Projected to reach the post-season, and even the World Series by some makers of odds, the Mariners already have five walk-off defeats, tied for the MLB lead with the Pittsburgh Pirates. By contrast, 12 teams have zero walk-off losses and 11 others have one.
The Mariners already have more walk-off losses than they had in the entire 1981 (3), 1985 (1), 1987 (3), 1994 (3), 1996 (4), 2005 (3) and 2007 (2) seasons. Twenty-nine games into their schedule, the Mariners are nearly halfway to the franchise record of 13, set in 2011 and matched in 2013.
In their 38+ seasons, the Mariners have walked off a sudden loser 301 times, most infamously May 17, 1996 at Camden Yards in Baltimore when, leading the Orioles 13-10 entering the bottom ninth, they lost 14-13 on a Chris Hoiles grand slam off Norm Charlton.
The Mariners didn’t make any walk-off history on the road trip, but they came close Monday when Los Angeles’s Carlos Perez, in his major league debut, connected for a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Angels a 5-4 victory.
Two things about that: Perez became the fourth player in the era of divisional play (since 1969) to hit a walk-off homer in his debut game, joining:
| Year | Date | Player | Team | Opp. | Walk-Off Hit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Sept. 9 | Billy Parker | LAA | Milw | HR off Floyd Weaver in 12th |
| 2002 | Aug. 23 | Josh Bard | Cle | Sea | HR off James Baldwin in 9th |
| 2003 | June 20 | Miguel Cabrera | Fla | TB | HR off Al Levine in 9th |
| 2015 | May 5 | Carlos Perez | LAA | Sea | HR off Dominic Leone in 9th |
Talk about tortured history: The Mariners are now the only team in the divisional era to twice watch an opposing rookie belt a walk-off homer in his major league debut.
Dominic Leone, who served up the gopher ball to Perez, has lost three times via walk-off this season (also April 13 against the Dodgers in Chavez Ravine and April 30 at Houston), placing him halfway to the single-season franchise record of six walk-off losses, established by Mike Schooler in 1988.
Schooler is actually more notorious for what went wrong in 1992 than for his spree of walk-off gags in ’88. In 1992, “Schools” allowed seven homers, all costing the Mariners wins, and four were grand salamis, tying the American League single-season record.
“I am the epitome of grand slamness,” Schooler said in a quote for the anthologies.
Schooler also holds another record, perhaps more unbreakable than Ichiro’s 262 hits in 2004. During his Mariner career (1988-92), Schooler surrendered 15 walk-off hits. He not only predictably gave up walk-off homers, but in a display of negative virtuosity had two walk-off walks, a walk-off sac fly and a walk-off wild pitch.
On the career chart, Schooler is three clear of the much-loathed Bobby Ayala for most walk-off hits surrendered:
| Pitcher | Career | W/O Hits | Skinny |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mike Schooler | 1988-92 | 15 | Team-record 6 walk-off hits in 1988 |
| Bobby Ayala | 1994-98 | 12 | Nadir in 1998: 8 saves, 9 blown saves |
| Mike Jackson | 1988-91, ’95 | 10 | Allowed 4 of 10 walk-off hits in 1991 |
| Enrique Romo | 1977-78 | 8 | Yielded 4 of 8 walk-off hits in 1977 |
| Shane Rawley | 1978-81 | 8 | Traded by Seattle to NYY in 1981 |
| Brandon League | 2010-12 | 8 | Back-to-back walk-off losses May 12-13 |
| Norm Charlton | 1993, ’95-97 | 7 | Suffered three walk-off losses in 1996 |
The Mariners have lost 29 times via walk-off in consecutive road games, making the next big date on the calendar May 19, when Seattle begins a nine-game road trip with the first of three at Camden Yards, site of the Hoiles walk-off salami in 1996. A walk-off loss that night would set a franchise record for consecutive games (3) vexed in an opponent’s final at-bat.
Felix On Sunday
Felix Hernandez (5-0, 1.73) will close out the three-game Oakland series Sunday at Safeco Field opposite RHP Jesse Chavez (1-2, 1.80), who lost to the Mariners 5-4 April 11. Hernandez is 5-0 for the first time in his career and can join a short list of Seattle starters to start a season 6-0 or better. The list:
| Year | Pitcher | Start | Skinny |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Aaron Sele | 8-0 | Didn’t make All-Star team, finished 15-5, 3.60 |
| 1999 | John Halama | 7-0 | Started as reliever, went 7-0 after joining rotation |
| 1980 | Rick Honeycutt | 6-0 | Lost his next eight in a row and finished 10-17 |
| 1995 | Randy Johnson | 6-0 | Went 18-2, AL-best 2.48, won Cy Young award |
| 2000 | John Halama | 6-0 | Faded as season progressed, finished 14-9, 5.08 ERA |
| 2001 | Freddy Garcia | 6-0 | Went 18-6, led AL with 3.05 ERA for 116-win team |
There is no way of telling how Hernandez’s fast start will play out. Rick Honeycutt (1980) started 6-0 but finished with a losing record. Randy Johnson also started 6-0 and won the Cy Young.
Next
The Mariners begin a nine-game home stand Friday that will include appearances by Oakland (3), San Diego (2) and Boston (4). Taijuan Walker (1-3, 8.74) will start the Oakland series opener against Athletics ace Sonny Gray (4-0, 1.67), who had a no-decision against the Mariners April 11.
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