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Seattle Mariners Alumni Reflect on 50th Anniversary Celebration; Current Team
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- Seattle Mariners Alumni Reflect on 50th Anniversary Celebration; Current Team
Former Seattle Mariners designated hitter/right fielder and one of the 50 greatest Mariners of all time Nelson Cruz speaks to the media before a game Sunday at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. | Teren Kowatsch/Roundtable Sports
SEATTLE — The Seattle Mariners haven't had the on-field results they hoped for this weekend and dropped the first two of a three-game series against the Tampa Bay Rays at T-Mobile Park.
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Amidst the losses, this weekend has also coincided with the organization's 50th anniversary celebration.
As a part of the weekend's events, Seattle hosted the alumni home run derby after a game Friday, which was won by former outfielder Stefen Romero .
In a pregame ceremony Saturday, the Mariners revealed the 50 greatest players in the history of the franchise.
Four of the players featured on the list, Nelson Cruz, Alvin Davis, Jamie Moyer and Bruce Bochte, spoke to the media before the series finale against the Rays on Sunday.
Heralded as the "greatest gathering of Mariners ever" by the franchise, many of those players reunited for the first time in years.
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"(There's) guys that I looked up to, like Bruce Bochte and (Ruppert Jones)," Davis said Saturday. " ... I haven't seen Bruce Bochte in a long time. I saw Floyd Bannister at an alumni event down in (Peoria, Ariz.) probably about seven or eight years ago. It was before COVID. And (I have) a special bond with Floyd because we both went to (Arizona State). And part of the reason I went to ASU was because of Floyd. ... There's the first base fraternity with John Olerud. ... The list could go on and on."
The 50 greatest players represent very different eras of the Mariners. Davis was the team's first true "iconic" player and his last year in Seattle (1991) was the franchise's first-ever winning season, Cruz partnered with fellow Top 50-Mariner Robinson Cano in the mid-2010s to provide the franchise its first semblance of playoff expectations in years, Bochte was a part of the foundation that began Seattle's franchise and Moyer was a steady and consistent arm in the starting rotation throughout most of the Mariners most successful years as an organization from 1996-2006.
"It was a shame (we didn't make the playoffs)," Cruz said. "I could trade anything to be a part of the playoffs for this town in my career. I wanted that so bad, it was incredible. And when I (saw) the guys make it to the playoffs, it felt like it was a part of me being there with them because I know how much love the fans have for this organization and this team and they show it every day."
Several members of the 50 Greatest Mariners of all time are still involved with the franchise in some capacity.
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Davis is a roving minor league instructor and special assistant to the team and is often at the team's complex in Peoria during spring training.
Some former players, like Moyer, are involved as fans and occasional guests.
"I don't really have contact with any (of the current starting rotation," Moyer said. "I'm not an employee, I don't really come to a lot of games. My appreciation is sitting at home and watching them pitch on TV and appreciating what they're doing. That would be my connection to the club."
Among the 44 of the 50 players honored at the event, Davis, who was bestowed with the moniker "Mr. Mariner" during his time in the Pacific Northwest, was the member of the list who spoke at the ceremony.
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In Davis' speech, he, like Ichiro Suzuki did one year before, spoke to the current team. Davis told the current crop of Seattle players to embrace the adversity, to prove the doubters wrong and to prove the team legends, and the fans, right.
Davis, along with Cruz and Moyer, held a shared belief that the 2026 Mariners can find a way to turn things around. They entered Sunday four games out of first place in the American League West and 3.5 game out of the final wild card spot in the American League.
"We're still within striking distance. The talent has not magically disappeared," Davis said. "(Have) the ability to just detach from what's happened before. Focus on the task today and let the talent that we have, that we know is all there, come to the surface. That's a lot easier said than done. But the bottom line is, you just got to get it done."
