In the spring of 2000, W.W. Norton and Co. published "Baseball Dynasties: The Greatest Teams of All Time," co-authored by Rob Neyer and Eddie Epstein. To merit inclusion among the 15 dynasties considered in the book, a team had to have played at a high level for three years. So the 2001 Mariners would not qualify, as they've only played at such a high level for two years. Nevertheless, in honor of their 116-win season, here's what a portion of a new chapter in "Baseball Dynasties" might look like ...

2001 Seattle Mariners

More than any team I've ever seen, the 2001 Mariners did not beat themselves. They didn't beat themselves at the plate, they didn't beat themselves on the mound, they didn't beat themselves in the field, and they didn't beat themselves on the bases. The "team" aspect of baseball is routinely overstated, but the 2001 Mariners just might be the best "team" in the long history of the game.

- Rob Neyer, ESPN.com

Record: 116-46, .716 (5th)
Two-Year (2000-2001): 207-117, .638 (51st)

Only four major-league teams since 1900 won a greater percentage of their games in a single season: the 1906 Chicago Cubs (.763), 1902 Pittsburgh Pirates (.741), 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (.724) and the 1954 Cleveland Indians (.721).

SD Score: +3.48 (10th)
Two Year: +5.41 (30th)

The "SD Score" measures a team's performance, relative to its league, in a given season or seasons, based on how many standard deviations from the league average the team's runs scored and runs allowed totals were. Here are the top 10 single-season SD Scores since 1900:

Team           SD Score
1998 Yankees    +3.88
1906 Cubs       +3.73
1927 Yankees    +3.69
1917 Giants     +3.68
1984 Tigers     +3.65
1986 Mets       +3.62
1902 Pirates    +3.62
1939 Yankees    +3.52
1995 Indians    +3.51
2001 Mariners   +3.48

Postseason Results:
2000, Lost ALCS to New York Yankees
2001, ?

Days in First Place: 190 of 190; clinched on September 19 when Oakland lost to Texas.

Longest Winning Streak: 15 games, May 23 through June 8

At the conclusion of their streak, the longest in franchise history, the Mariners led the second-place Angels by 17 games. It was perhaps the earliest in baseball's history that a club had virtually locked up a postseason berth.

Longest Losing Streak: 4 Games, September 20 through 23

Before the Mariners' four-game losing streak in September -- including a three-game sweep in Oakland -- they hadn't lost even three games in a row all season, leading to speculation that the M's might well become the first major-league team since the 1902 Pirates to get through an entire season without losing three straight.

The Pennant Race: There wasn't one. At the close of April, the Mariners already held a nine-game lead over the Texas Rangers ... the second-place Texas Rangers. The M's were 12 games ahead of the fourth-place Athletics, who were supposed to be the class of the division. The A's, of course, played brilliantly in the second half of the season (58-17) to capture the wild card, but they never came close to challenging the M's for the division title.

Against the Contenders: As noted above, soon after the season started it became apparent that there weren't any contenders. The Mariners went just 10-9 against the Athletics, however.

Runs Scored: 928 (1st in American League)

Runs Allowed: 627 (1st in American League)

Pythagorean Record: 111-51

Manager: Lou Piniella

Piniella is the latest in a long line of successful managers stretching all the way back to John McGraw, who managed Casey Stengel, who managed Billy Martin, who managed ... Lou Piniella, when Piniella played for the Yankees in the 1970s.

Piniella has long been known for his gruffness, and his related lack of tolerance for young pitchers who can't perform exactly as he wishes. But he seems to have mellowed in the last couple of years, and the Mariners' prospects improved immensely when Piniella ceded some control of the pitching staff to Bryan Price, the best young pitching coach in the game.

Regular Lineup:

Player         Position   OPS  
Ichiro Suzuki     RF      838
Mark McLemore     LF      790 
Edgar Martinez    DH      966
John Olerud       1B      873
Bret Boone        2B      950
Mike Cameron      CF      832
David Bell        3B      718
Dan Wilson         C      708
Carlos Guillen    SS      689

The bottom of the lineup wasn't good, but the top six hitters all brought something to the table ... and the bottom three weren't terrible; no one in the lineup was a complete waste of space, which allowed the Mariners to avoid long scoring droughts.

Bench: The most important "bench player" was Mark McLemore, who played more than any Mariner catcher or left fielder, ranked sixth on the club in runs scored, and started at least seven games at five different positions. The Mariner lineup enjoyed excellent health in 2001, and so McLemore, backup catcher Tom Lampkin, and outfielder Stan Javier were the only reserves to see any sort of significant action. Al Martin was the nominal regular left fielder, but he played significantly less often than McLemore, and wasn't effective when he did play.

Scouting the Pitchers: Ace Freddy Garcia was a horse. At 6-4 and 240 pounds, Garcia threw a mid-90s fastball with which he effectively changed speeds. Garcia complemented his heat with a solid changeup, a curve, and a sinking fastball. At 38, Left-hander Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher in major-league history to win 20 games for the first time, and he did it with the best changeup in the game and a low-80s "fastball. Aaron Sele depended on his overhand curveball and good control. No. 4 starter Paul Abbott's fastball was too straight to blow hitters away, but he mixed in a terrific changeup and a good slider, and at 33 Abbott won 17 games to nearly double his career total.

Closer Kazuhiro Sasaki threw hard but didn't blow people away; his strikeout pitch was a forkball that was often unhittable. Left-handed setup man Arthur Rhodes did blow people away with his mid-90s fastball, and right-handed setup man Jeff Nelson employed an amazing slider to absolutely dominate right-handed hitters.

How Were They Built? Far from a home-grown club, the Mariners were built through beneficial trades and canny free-agent signings.

When Randy Johnson made it clear in 1998 that he didn't want to be in Seattle, the Mariners traded him to Houston for Freddy Garcia, Carlos Guillen and John Halama.

When Ken Griffey made it clear in 1999 that he didn't want to be in Seattle, the Mariners traded him to Cincinnati for Mike Cameron, Brett Tomko, and two minor leaguers.

The Griffey trade was not new general manager Pat Gillick's first big move. Earlier that winter, Gillick had signed free agents John Olerud and Aaron Sele, both of whom grew up near Seattle and presumably took a bit less money from the Mariners than they might have received elsewhere. Also that winter, Gillick made great efforts to improve Seattle's bullpen, which had been a glaring weakness for years. First Gillick signed free-agent Arthur Rhodes, and then he signed Japanese closer Kazuhiro Sasaki.

After the 2000 season, faced with the loss of shortstop Alex Rodriguez, arguably the game's greatest player, Gillick rebuilt the lineup by signing Bret Boone and Ichiro Suzuki, who arguably became the most valuable hitters on the club in their first season.

Two things should be said about Pat Gillick's moves after taking over as GM on October 25, 1999.

One, he made a lot of moves, and with just one exception -- trading for Al Martin at the trade deadline in 2000 -- they all worked out as well as anyone, including Gillick himself, could reasonably have expected.

And two, Gillick did benefit from an increased budget. In 2000, the Mariners' payroll was approximately $60 million; in 2001 it was $75 million, and that doesn't even include the $13 million Seattle paid the Orix Blue Wave merely for the rights to negotiate with Ichiro.

What Brought Them Down? Nothing yet, of course. However, Pat Gillick, or whoever is running the club, will face a tough test in the next few years, as the great majority of the team's best hitters are on the wrong side of 30. And while the organization is stocked with brilliant young pitchers, there don't seem to be many future All-Star hitters in the pipeline.

Most Valuable Mariner: The Seattle baseball writers couldn't make up their minds between Boone and Ichiro, but we're happy to do it for them ...

Ichiro is one of those rare players whose basic stats don't tell the whole story. His .381 OBP is very good, but not great. He led the league with 56 steals, and his speed helped the Mariners in other ways. He reached base via error a great number of times, and will likely win a Gold Glove for his outstanding defense in right field.

All that said, Ichiro didn't quite match the contributions of Bret Boone. Boone's OBP was only nine points lower than Ichiro's, and his slugging percentage was 121 points higher. What's more, he gave the Mariners solid defense at second base, a position at which offense is at a higher premium than in right field. Boone was not only the most valuable Mariner in 2001, but a viable American League MVP candidate.

Worst Regular: David Bell. Hey, we have to pick somebody. Bell enjoyed a solid year with the glove, but offensively he was little better than the club's catcher and shortstop.

Future Hall of Famers: In 1998, it was often said that the Yankees achieved what they did without benefit of a true superstar. In hindsight, though, this just doesn't seem quite right. In the lineup, Derek Jeter and Bernie Williams now look like good bets for the Hall, and part-timer Tim Raines has a chance, too. And among the pitchers, David Cone and Mariano Rivera have to be considered viable candidates.

But do you see any likely Hall of Famers among the 2001 Mariners? Edgar Martinez ranks as one of the great hitters of his era, but we just don't know how Hall of Fame voters will feel about a player who enjoyed his best seasons as a designated hitter, and didn't hit even 300 homers in his career. John Olerud is a Hall of Fame candidate, but he's 33 and still has plenty of work to do. And that's it, unless Ichiro decides to spend another decade or so in North America and continues to perform at his current level for most of that decade.

The Ballpark: Safeco Field

Named for an insurance company, Safeco Field provides a sense of security to the men who pitch there, as the new ballpark ranks as the friendliest to pitchers in the American League.

Rob can be reached at rob.neyer@dig.com, and to order his new book, "Feeding the Green Monster", click here.