The 5 Best Opening Day moments in Mariners History

Opening Day remains one of the most special occasions in all of baseball, always helping fans recall the excitement which accompanied watching the game as a youngster. For a Seattle Mariners fan in particular, Opening Day is also often accompanied by that winning feeling.

The Mariners have a 29-19 record on Opening Day since their first in 1977. This translates to a .604 winning percentage which is second all-time in the Majors, behind just the New York Mets at .651 percent (41-22).

As the Mariners prepare to take on the Athletics on Thursday night in Seattle, we thought we'd use this opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. Here is a countdown of five of our best Opening Day moments in team history.

5. April 1, 2021: The Mariners complete an improbable comeback

We begin with one of the most surreal Opening Day memories in Mariners history, at home to the San Francisco Giants in 2021. As the game entered the bottom of the eighth, all hope seemed lost with the M's trailing 6-1.

Taylor Trammel, making his Major League debut, worked an excruciatingly tense eight-pitch walk to produce his first ever RBI and the comeback was on. Before you knew it the Mariners had scored six unanswered runs to take a 7-6 lead, and the fun wasn't over yet.

The Giants tied the game at 7-7 in the top of the ninth and the game subsequently went into extra innings. However, the Mariners eventually managed to secure a 8-7 victory in the bottom of the 10th, courtesy of a walk-off walk to Jake Fraley, with Evan White crossing home plate for the winning score.

This represented the fourth Opening Day walk-off win in Mariners history, following on from Phil Bradley in 1984, Alex Rodriguez in 1996 and the player featured at No. 2 on our list. The M's also became the sixth Major League team in the modern era to come back from a five-run deficit on Opening Day in the eight inning or later and win.

4. April 6, 1993: The Big Unit makes the Blue Jays sleepless in Seattle

Randy Johnson is understandably in the discussion for the best pitcher in Mariners history, after 10 glorious seasons in Seattle. While he might lack the longevity of No. 3 on our list, he still holds several franchise records, including adjusted ERA+ and shutouts, as well as fewest hits and most strikeouts per nine innings.

Johnson is also second in Mariners history with six Opening Day starts, during which he recorded two wins and four no-decisions. For this particular Opening Day memory we go to 1993, with the M's hosting a Toronto Blue Jays team coming off their first World Series in franchise history.

The Blue Jays represented a dangerous opponent which had gotten even better during the offseason after signing seven-time All-Star Paul Molitor, but this held no fear to Johnson. "The Big Unit" was spectacular as he went 8.0 innings, only giving up seven hits, two walks and one earned run in a comfortable 8-1 win.

Where the five-time Cy Young winner really stood out was in striking out 14 batters, which was some achievement versus a lineup which would go on to have four starters in that season's All-Star Game and eventually win a second consecutive World Series. The 14 strikeouts remain an Opening Day team record which Johnson replicated in 1996, and are also tied-second for the most Ks in Major League history.

3. April 2, 2007: The King's Court is in session

We recently ranked the Mariners' Opening Day starters since 2010, and Félix Hernández deservedly took the top spot. In truth this was never really going to be a debate, given then he's arguably the best pitcher in franchise history.

Hernández holds the team record with 11 Opening Day starts. This includes other Opening Day team records of 10 consecutive starts and seven wins, with an overall mark of 7-2 and two no-decisions.

In respect of the best moments for the Mariners on Opening Day, we go back to the six-time All-Star's first ever start in the prestigious position, in 2007 at home to the then-Oakland Athletics. He started as he meant to go on, with a phenomenal performance in a game which the M's would win 4-0.

Hernández was virtually unstoppable as he allowed just three hits and two walks in 8.0 dominant innings of shutout ball. He also recorded 12 strikeouts against an A's team which quite simply had no response, as he went 110 pitches and notched the W.

2. April 8, 1986: A grand slam of historical proportions for the Mariners

Picture the scene — it's Opening Day and you're at home to a divisional rival, but it's not going as planned. The Mariners had given up three runs in the top of the first and as they entered the ninth inning, they were trailing 4-2 to the California Angels and staring down the barrel of a gun at a disappointing beginning to the 1986 season.

This was when Jim Presley took the game by the scruff of the neck, looking to build on the previous year, when he had career-highs of 28 home runs, 44 walks and a .808 OPS. With a man on base he hit a two-run bomb, which tied the game at 4-4 and took it to extra innings.

The third baseman wasn't finished however. After the Mariners blanked the Angels in the top of the 10th, they got to work in the bottom of the inning and loaded the bases. This set the stage for Presley, who delivered a walk-off grand slam to complete an Opening Day team record of six RBI and secure a 8-4 win.

To really appreciate what Presley achieved that day, consider that he is one of only three players in Major League history to hit a walk-off grand slam on Opening Day. On a similar theme, later on that year he became just the second ever player to hit two walk-off grand slams in the same season, as he went on to earn the only All-Star selection of his career.

1. April 1, 1997: The Kid who would be MVP

Ken Griffey Jr. always had a flare for the dramatic during his time with the Mariners, often coming up with clutch hits during his two spells in Seattle. Opening Day was no exception, with his eight home runs tied for the most in Major League history.

For our top Mariners moment on Opening Day, we take you to 1997, with the Mariners hosting the New York Yankees at the Kingdome. For Griffey in particular this was a big game, because of his disdain for the Bronx Bombers due to how they allegedly treated his father, Ken Griffey Sr.

As a result Griffey was also up for facing the Yankees, who he often made pay for their treatment of his beloved father. And it was no different on this Opening Day in 1997, as he produced two home runs and three RBI in a 4-2 win for the Mariners.

The other reason for wanting to feature this particular moments is because it set the wheels in motion for the only MVP award of Griffey's 22-year career in the big leagues. He would go on to lead the Majors in 1997 with a career-high 147 RBI, while also pacing the AL with 56 home runs, a .646 slugging percentage and 9.1 WAR.

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