Mariners Vault: Wilson's inside-the-park grand slam

February 23rd, 2022

MLB.com is digging back into its massive video vault to uncover classic plays that you have loved, forgotten about or, perhaps, are discovering for the very first time. Watch these moments and many, many more on the MLB Vault YouTube page.

May 3, 1998: Wilson's inside-the-park grand slam
With 88 homers over his 14-year career, Dan Wilson wasn't exactly known for prodigious power. He also had just two grand slams, but one of those was among the most memorable in Mariners history. In the bottom of the first inning against Detroit's Frank Castillo, Wilson connected on a middle-middle fastball and drove it off the left-center-field wall, nearly clearing the fence. Because it took an awkward roll, Wilson was able to race around and score easily for an inside-the-park homer.

Sept. 26, 1997: Ibañez's first career homer
Raúl Ibañez played 19 seasons in the Majors and hit 305 career home runs, a mark only 149 players in AL/NL history have reached. The first of those was a tape-measure shot into the upper deck in right field at the Kingdome, which evoked a hearty call from iconic Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus, who said: "That's something to talk about, baby!"

June 24, 1997: Big Unit's first 19-strikeout game
Randy Johnson was a strikeout machine during his 10 seasons in Seattle, fanning a whopping 2,162 in that stretch, a number that has since been surpassed in franchise history by only Félix Hernández's 2,524 (though The King pitched in 145 more games). One of the Big Unit's biggest gems came in a brisk, two-hour, 21-minute contest against Oakland, during which he punched out 19. At the time, that was the most by any left-hander in big league history. He matched that mark less than two months later, then surpassed it by joining the elite 20-K club in 2001 with Arizona.

July 6, 1996: Edgar's three-homer game in Texas
By '96, Edgar had established himself as one of the American League's most revered hitters. Better known for his eye, plate discipline and contact ability, Martinez could also put a thump on balls, too. He whacked three of his 26 that year in one warm night in Arlington, two off starting pitcher Kevin Gross then another off reliever Matt Whiteside, making him -- at the time -- just the seventh player in franchise history to go deep thrice in a single game. Six more have accomplished the feat, including Edgar in 1999.

Aug. 24, 1995: Griffey smashes first career walk-off HR
Nine days after returning from a nearly three-month recovery due to a broken wrist, Griffey was back to his elite form, destroying a tiebreaking two-run, walk-off homer into the second deck of the right-field bleachers at the Kingdome, sending the 17,592 on hand into a frenzy. The victory pushed the Mariners to .500, and they wouldn't fall below that mark the rest of the season en route to their first postseason appearance in franchise history, where they defeated those same Yanks in the epic five-game American League Division Series.

June 24, 1993: Buhner hits for first cycle in Mariners history
Before Mariners great Jay Buhner hit a single, double, triple and homer all in the same game, no one in club history had gone that distance. Buhner accomplished the feat in the club's 17th season -- and only three other Mariners have matched the mark since. More notable, his homer that afternoon came with the bases loaded, making him the first player since Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx in 1933 to hit a grand slam as part of a cycle, and at the time, Buhner and Foxx were among just six to do so.

June 1, 1991: Edgar ignites triple play
Before he shifted to his eventual Hall of Fame role as designated hitter, Edgar Martinez could flash the leather at the hot corner. On a warm night in Arlington during his fifth big league season, Martinez helped spark one of the rarer plays in baseball: the triple play. With Randy Johnson pitching, and thanks to sharp grounder from the Rangers' Brian Downing, Martinez was able to corral the ball, step on the bag and quickly flip it to second baseman Harold Reynolds, who then flipped it to Pete O'Brien at first. It was, at the time, just the sixth triple play in franchise history, per Baseball Almanac.

April 1, 1997: Griffey's two Opening Day homers
Ken Griffey Jr. loved Opening Day as much as anyone, and he typically started the first game of the year with a bang. Over his 21 regular-season openers, Junior hit .282/.398/.662 (1.060 OPS) in 88 plate appearances. But his best showing came in his eventual MVP season in 1997, when he crushed two homers, both off five-time All-Star David Cone, in a 4-2 win over the Yankees at the Kingdome.

May 6, 1982: Perry picks up No. 300
Gaylord Perry spent just one and a half of his 22 seasons in Seattle, but he was in the Emerald City for one of the most iconic moments of his career, when he tossed a complete game that led to a 7-3 win over the Yankees at the Kingdome. That made him, at the time, just the 15th player in big league history to reach the prestigious 300-win club. The highlight clips from that afternoon are among those most remembered for the Hall of Famer.

Aug. 7, 1987: Langston's shoutout in '87
Mark Langston was arguably the Mariners' first true ace, and he had no better season in Seattle than in 1987, when he went 19-13 with a 3.84 ERA and an American League-best 262 strikeouts over 272 innings. For his efforts, he finished fifth in the AL Cy Young Award voting. One of his best gems in that stretch came in a 14-0 victory over the rival Angels at the Kingdome, when he completed one of his three shutouts on the season. On that day, he racked up 11 punchouts and gave up just seven hits.