Mariners Third Base: Bill Stein to Kyle Seager

1990-1999

After Presley was traded to Atlanta, Coles became the third baseman; however, he made five errors in six games so he was moved to the outfield. Manager Jim Lefebvre made Edgar Martinez the starting third baseman. Edgar had made his major league debut in September 1987, appearing on occasion behind Presley.

In 1990, he hit .302 his first full season in the Major Leagues. In 1991, he followed it up by hitting .307. This was only the beginning for Martinez’s Hall of Fame career.

In 1992, Edgar wound up winning the American League batting title at .343 along with a league-leading 46 doubles. Before the 1993 season, Edgar tore his hamstring in an exhibition game in Vancouver, British Columbia. He ended up playing in only 42 games that year with a batting average of .237, the lowest of his major league career.

In 1994, Edgar started the season as the Mariners 3rd baseman but was hit in the wrist by pitcher Dennis Martinez. He went on the disabled list. This same year, baseball had a player’s strike as well so Edgar was limited to playing in 89 games. He hit .285 with 13 home runs and 51 RBIs. Not bad at all for just over half a season.

Manager Lou Pinella decided to go into 1995 to be sure to keep Edgar’s bat in the lineup, making the future Hall of Famer the team’s full-time designated hitter. This worked out pretty well for the M’s.

On May 17, 1991, the Mariners acquired Mike Blowers from the New York Yankees. He spent that season in Triple-A. In 1992, he played 29 games at third base. In 1993, when Edgar was hurt most of the season, he was the Mariners’ regular third baseman. He hit .280 with 15 home runs and drove in 57 runs.

In 1994, Blowers played 48 games at third. He became the regular third baseman in 1995 when Edgar went to DH. Blowers hit .257 with 23 home runs and 96 runs driven in. The following year, he played for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In 1997, he returned to the Seattle Mariners as a free agent. That year, however, he predominantly played first base, then departed to Oakland in free agency. He returned for his third stint with the Mariners as a free agent; however, he played only in September of 1999. He was granted free agency but never signed with anyone.

After the 1995 miraculous playoff run, the Mariners traded popular first baseman Tino Martinez to the New York Yankees for 3rd baseman Russ Davis and pitcher Sterling Hitchcock. Davis started 1996 as the Mariners third baseman but broke his leg along with a severe ankle injury. The next three years, 1997 through 1999, he hit over 20 home runs in each season. In 1998, he had a terrible year fielding, having 32 errors. He recovered with an excellent 1999 in the field but couldn’t live down the fact he was a poor fielder in 1998.  In 2000, he signed a free agent contract with the San Francisco Giants.

While Russ Davis was out during 1996 the Mariners used three other players at 3rd base in Doug Strange, Jeff Manto, and Dave Hollins. The M’s picked Hollins up from the Twins at the end of August for a player named later, who turned out to be a minor leaguer at the time by the name of David Ortiz. Hollins was brought in for a push to the playoffs; however, Seattle came up short with a record of 85-76.