Randy Johnson was one of 4 superstars to join the Mariners in 1989.
In a given year, if a rookie class in the MLB were to produce multiple All-Stars over the course of their careers, it would be considered a successful year for rookies. If that same rookie class were to produce a Hall of Fame player, the class would go from good to great in the annals of history. If somehow, a rookie class produced upwards of four Hall of Fame caliber players in one season, then it would go down as one of, if not the all-time greatest rookie class in baseball history. But what if I told you this; that in 1989, four Hall of Fame level players did reach the major leagues at the same time, only they were all playing under the same roof, and in the same uniform.
As crazy as it may seem, the 1989 Seattle Mariners, under the lead of General Manager Woody Woodward and Scouting Director Roger Jongewaard, did just that, and at four different positions. Over the course of 1989, the Mariners brought up Randy Johnson, Omar Vizquel, Edgar Martinez, and Ken Griffey Jr. for their first full seasons in the MLB all at once.
Griffey Jr. was the prime jewel of the rookie class, having been taken as the first overall pick in the 1987 MLB Amateur Draft. As a 19 year old, Griffey flashed his immense potential during his rookies season, hitting .264/.329/.420 with 16 HR and 61 RBI in 127 games. Vizquel, signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Mariners in 1984, took over as the Mariners everyday shortstop at the age of 22 in 1989. While Vizquel struggled at the plate, hitting .220/.273/.261 in 143 games, he began to flash his incredible work with his glove by compiling 1.6 Defensive WAR, which would be his calling card for the rest of his career.
Vizquel and Griffey were both younger prospects heading into 1989; the same could not be said about Martinez and Johnson. After playing 27 games over two cups of coffee with the Mariners from 1987-1988, Martinez, then 26, got his first extended taste of big league action in 1989, hitting .240/.314/.304 in 65 games. It was one of only three times that Martinez would hit below .300 from 1989-2001. After struggling with his control in Montreal, Johnson, then 25, was traded to Seattle as part of a trade for Mark Langston. In his first full season as a starter, Johnson made 22 starts for the Mariners, going 7-9 with a 4.40 ERA, 1.435 WHIP, and extremely high 4.8 BB/9.
From here, you know where the story goes for most of these players. Griffey became one of the greatest home run hitters of all-time, won 10 Gold Glove Awards in center field, and set the record for the highest Hall of Fame voting percentage in baseball history. Once Johnson learned how to harness his slider and fastball combination, he went on to pitch until the age 45, winning 303 games, striking out 4875 batters and taking home five Cy Young Awards. Beginning in 1995, Martinez made he full-time transition to DH, and from there, finished his career hitting .312/.418/.515, with such strong numbers that the annual DH of the Year Award bares his name. While Omar never became known for his bat, he did stick around long enough to finish his career with 2877 hits, on top of the 11 Gold Glove Awards he won at shortstop.
With just the Mariners, this quartet combined to produce 181.4 WAR, a Cy Young Award, an AL MVP, 11 Gold Glove Awards, and 12 Silver Sluggers. When stretched out of the course of their careers, Griffey, Johnson, Vizquel, and Martinez combined for an incredible 299.3 WAR (Johnson 102.1 WAR, Griffey 83.6 WAR, Martinez 68.3 WAR, and Vizquel 45.3 WAR) and are all recognized as some of the very best to ever play their respective positions. Griffey and Johnson are already in Cooperstown, and with Martinez and Vizquel likely to join them over the course of the next decade, the 1989 Mariners rookie class will go down as one for the ages.
