Mariners: The five worst managers in 40 years of baseball

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Honorable Mentions

These guys were bad for the Mariners. They really were, but they weren’t the worst of the worst.

Don Wakamatsu

The Hood River, Oregon native’s PNW roots didn’t exactly give him home-field advantage. He managed the M’s for all of the 2009 season and half of 2010 until enough was enough and he was fired. As the Seattle skipper, he finished 127-147 (.464). The worst thing about Wakamatsu was that he guided the Mariners to an 85-77 season in 2009, but that success didn’t follow him into 2010. He was fired on August 9. The Mariners had a record of 42-70 at the time. Daren Brown was dubbed the interim, and posted a 19-31 record en route to an 100 loss season.

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Dick Williams

This is a little bit of a controversial pick for this list considering his pedigree. As a Hall of Fame manager, he problem hasn’t been on many “worst” lists, but he was a mess in Seattle. It was his last stint as a MLB manager, and his style just didn’t gel with players the way it once did. Ultimately in Seattle, he finished with a record of 159-192 (.453). Thankfully, the Mariners only had to go through three more managers before they got to Lou Piniella.

Marty Martinez

Likely the most forgotten manager in Mariners’ history, he managed one game. He lost. Finishing with a record of 0-1 (.000), he is one of 17 managers to never win a game. He is, quite frankly tied for the worst manager in MLB history, but simply due to the fact it was one game, we’ll only put him on the honorable mention list.

Those three narrowly avoid the actual list, but never fear, you’ll get some quality information from the five selections for this list. So without further adieu, here are the five worst managers in Mariners’ history.

5. Darell Johnson: 1977-1980 – Record: 226-362 (.384)

Johnson had the second worst winning percentage in Mariners’ history, but checks in at fifth on this list. He was the first to manage the Mariners, which meant he led an expansion team and didn’t get to pick what he worked with. The Mariners did not see a winning season under his guide. The 1978 season was particularly bad, with Seattle finishing 56-104. He was fired before completing his fourth season with the team.

4. Eric Wedge: 2011-2013 – Record: 213-273 (.440)

Okay, so here’s the thing with this one. .440 isn’t all that bad, but he had three full seasons in Seattle. He finished 28, 12, and 20 games under .500 respectively. In his last 36 games as the Mariners manager, the team finished 12-24, an abysmal microcosm of his time with the Mariners. Honestly, it astounds me he made it through one year. The Mariners a 17-game losing streak the team went through in the 2011 season. He came up just 4 and 6 games of the AL and MLB league losing streak records respectively. Wedge was bad. Really bad, but he at least had one season where he was better than 15 games under. Our next skipper didn’t manage that.

3. Del Crandall: 1983-1984 – Record: 93-141 (.415)

Crandall was not just a bad manager for the Mariners, he was a bad manager period. In six seasons between the Brewers and Mariners, he had a .437 winning percentage. Milwaukee fired him in 1975, but Seattle took the risk and signed him after eight seasons away. Crandall managed a year and a half for the Mariners before he was fired for the second time. In neither season did he post a winning record. As bad as he was, he’s not as bad as the next up on this list.

2. Bill Plummer: 1992 – Record: 64-98 (.395)

One beautiful year. That was all Plummer got. With a team boasting Randy Johnson, Dave Valle, Tino Martinez, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. he somehow managed to win just 64 games. With 3 losing streaks of 7 games or more (one being 14), there was just no way the Mariners could keep him around. Plummer’s time in Seattle wasn’t all bad, though. His failures in 1992 led Seattle to the #1 pick in 1993, where they selected a shortstop named Alex Emmanuel Rodriguez. For that reason alone, I almost didn’t put him all the at second-worst of all time. That said, he was miserable as a manager, and that can’t be overlooked. Yet somehow, the Mariners had a manager worse than him. A lot worse actually. Click over for the worst manager in Mariners’ history.

1. Maury Wills: 1980-1981 – Record: 26-56 (.317)

This man right here was miserable. He did not have a lot to work with when he took over for the fired Darell Johnson, but he got 58 games, and somehow lost 38 of them. He lost 11 of his first 13, and the last eight of the 1980 season. He only made it through 24 games in 1981 before the Mariners brass had had enough. He was 6-18 with a run differential at -52 at the time of the firing.

All in all, he was above and beyond the worst manager the Mariners have had in their time, but, Mariners fans should realize that for the most part it’s due to bad teams and not bad managers. but The Mariners have had nine different managers since they last made the playoffs, and that is a testament to how bad this team has been. Here’s to hoping the team figures out their dynamics and makes their way back to the postseason.

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Mariners: 5 worst managers in team history

The Seattle Mariners have had some intriguing characters at the helm over the years. Here we’ll look at the 5 worst skippers to lead the M’s since their founding in 1977.