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SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE: WooSox Pitching Coach Paul Abbott Was a Standout Pitcher on the 2001 Seattle Mariners Who Won 116 Games in 2001 But Did Not Make the World SeriesÂ

June 25, 2022 - International League (IL)
Worcester Red Sox News Release


WORCESTER - Depending on how the numbers are crunched, the 2001 Seattle Mariners are either in the Top Five or Top Ten of major league baseball teams since the game took its current form with the first World Series in 1903.

Managed by high-intensity Lou Piniella, the Mariners were a great club with lousy timing. Their unforgettable season became something of an afterthought when the Twin Towers of Manhattan were destroyed in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

WooSox pitching coach Paul Abbott knows what that felt like. He was on the 2001 Mariners, putting together a career year with many of his teammates. Abbott went 17-4 for a team that was 116-46 and finished 14 games ahead of the second-place Athletics in the AL West.

That was 14 games ahead of a team that won 102 games.

Seattle's 116 victories are tied for the major league record with the 1906 Chicago Cubs and remain an American League record.

Like those 1906 Cubs, though, the 2001 Mariners did not win the World Series, something that puts an unofficial asterisk on those achievements. Seattle beat the Indians in the Division Series then was beaten by the Yankees in the ALCS in five games.

"It was very disappointing," Abbott recalled. "Obviously, 2001 was when 9-11 happened. It happened in New York and the world stopped. Baseball was second, third, fourth of all the things to think about. It woke up a lot of the world, people realizing that, after all, we're just playing a game."

Baseball took a week off before resuming a restructured schedule.

"When we had the delay," Abbott said, "we were on a good roll, then we had the delay, and it kind of took the wind out of our sails just a bit. We were firing on all cylinders, then the focus on everything changed and by the time we got to the playoffs against the Yankees and it was almost like they were destined to win."

The 2000 Mariners were also a good team. They were 91-71 in the regular season and again went to the ALCS versus the Yankees, losing in six games. That winter they lost Alex Rodriguez to free agency but gained Ichiro Suzuki and Bret Boone.

Ichiro was a great Japanese player who had yet to prove that his talents translated to the United States.

"Nobody knew what to expect," Abbott said, "and even though the end of spring training everyone was skeptical. You weren't really sure what you had, and it turned out that you had a whole lot."

The appearance of Ichiro and an off-the-charts performance by Boone, signed as a free agent, more than compensated for the loss of Rodriguez. Ichiro hit .350 and was both Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. Boone hit .331 with 37 homers and 141 RBIs.

"In my opinion, we would not have gotten to the playoffs without the production we got from Bret Boone," Abbott said.

Seattle was 20-5 at the end of April, 40-12 at the end of May and 63-24 at the All-Star break.

"We thought we'd win every game," Abbott recalled. "On the field, in the clubhouse - it all was a great atmosphere, everybody happy. We won 15 games in a row at one point and you never thought you'd lose, ever."

Personally, Abbott almost did never lose. He had just the four losses in 28 appearances, 27 of them starts. He didn't get into a game until the end of April and was an unspectacular 3-2 heading into June. Abbott then won his next 10 decisions and was 14-2 over the season's last four months.

The Mariners were 22-5 in his starts.

He was 17-4 with an ERA of 4.25 in 2001. The year before Abbott was 9-7 with a better ERA of 4.22.

"Run support was one reason," he said of his better record. "I look at my numbers and I averaged more than six innings a start, which is a lot higher than most guys today, and when you do that you're giving yourself time for your team to come back.

"Maybe you come out of a game with the score tied and your team pushes across a couple of runs and you get a win. We had a better team, a better offense, and the stars aligned for me."

The Mariners beat the Indians in the Division Series, 3 games to 2, after going down 2 to 1. Seattle lost the first two games of the Division Series at home, then belted the Yankees in New York, 14-3. The Mariners never made it back home, though, as they lost Games 4 and 5 at Yankee Stadium, the city only five weeks removed from the World Trade Center tragedies.

Abbott remembers those games very well, maybe too well.

"New York doesn't stop," he said. "Everything there is fast, fast, fast, but when we went in there, everybody was moving about a half mile an hour. Everybody's eyes were dark and the city was just in a different place.

"Then, when we got to the field, I'd never seen Yankee Stadium so alive, almost angry. They needed to let it out, and when we were in Game 5 and getting eliminated, they let it out. The Yankees had a tremendous team. We won 116 games, but they had as good a team as anybody in baseball."

Since 1903, only the 1906 Cubs, 1909 Pirates and 1954 Indians have had better winning percentages than the 2001 Mariners. Of those four teams, the 1909 Pirates are the only one to win the World Series. So the 2001 Mariners aren't the only team to have a sweet season end on a sour note, just the most recent.

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The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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