ESPN.com: MLB - '98 Yankees vs. '01 Mariners

After Monday night's 3-2 victory in 11 innings, the Seattle Mariners had 99 wins and 39 losses, a remarkable .717 winning percentage that has them on pace to win 116 games. Of course, that puts them on pace to break the 1998 Yankees' AL record of 114 victories.

My bosses asked for a position-by-position comparison between the two clubs. I've obliged. A few notes about the statistics:

1. Stats for Mariners hitters are prorated for the rest of the season, to give a better idea what they'll finish with.
2. Stats for Mariners pitchers are entering Monday's action. You decide for yourself how much they'll pitch the rest of the season.
3. Consider park effects when looking at the numbers. Yankee Stadium in 1998 played as a slight pitchers' park. Safeco Field in 2001 plays as a great park for pitchers.
4. The American League in 1998 played slightly more as a hitters' league. The average AL OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) was 772 in 1998 and is 763 in 2001. The AL ERA in 1998 was 4.65 and is 4.49 in 2001.

One final note. This will fire up the blood of Yankees fans, but it is the truth. It is easier to be great in an expansion season, as 1998 was. For example:

In 1996-1997, only one team won 100 games (the '97 Braves with 101). In 1998, when the Devil Rays entered the AL and the Diamondbacks the NL, the Yankees won 114, the Braves won 106 and the Astros won 102.

In 1991-92, no team won 100 games. In 1993, the new expansion teams, the Rockies and Marlins, drew players from both leagues, but both entered the NL. The Braves won 104 games and the Giants 103.

In 1975-76, no AL team won 100 games. In 1977, when the Mariners and Blue Jays joined the league (and drew players only from AL teams), the Royals and Yankees both reached the century mark.

In 1969, four teams were added, two in each league. In 1968, only three teams won as many as 90 games. In 1969, seven teams won at least 90, and the Orioles won 109.

In 1961, the Reds won the NL pennant with 93 wins. In 1962, after the Mets and Colt 45s joined the league, the Reds won 98 games, but finished well behind the Giants (104 wins) and Dodgers (103).

In 1960, the Yankees captured the AL pennant with 97 wins. In 1961, with the Angels and Senators now in the league, the Yankees won 109 games and the Tigers 101.

So, when considering greatness, consider those facts. Over a few seasons, expansion doesn't really dilute the talent level of the game. But there's no denying it has an immediate, first-year impact. It's happened in every expansion and cannot be denied was a reason the Yankees won 114 games. The Mariners do not have that factor in their favor.

OK, to the comparisons:

C: Jorge Posada vs. Dan Wilson

Player     G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Posada   111 358  96  56  17  63   0 .268 .350 .475 .825
Wilson   123 377  99  44   8  37   4 .263 .306 .379 .685

In his first season as the regular catcher, Posada gave the Yankees first-rate production, showing power and patience at the plate. Wilson has reversed years of decline this season, but he's no match for Posada offensively. Edge: Yankees

1B: Tino Martinez vs. John Olerud

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Martinez  142 531 149  92  28 123   2 .281 .355 .505 .860
Olerud    160 577 173  89  20  91   2 .299 .400 .463 .863

Tino has the edge in power, but Olerud has a big 45-point edge in on-base percentage. Once you factor in the ballparks, Olerud is probably the slightly superior offensive player. While Martinez is a fine defender, Olerud won the Gold Glove in 2000 and may win another in 2001. Edge: Slight edge to Mariners

2B: Chuck Knoblauch vs. Bret Boone

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Knoblauch 150 603 160 117  17  64  31 .265 .361 .405 .766
Boone     161 636 207 117  38 141   4 .325 .360 .571 .931

In his first year with the Yankees, Knoblauch was a bit of a disappointment. After hitting .291, .341, .333 and .312 the previous four seasons, his average dropped to .261 and his OBP fell as well. Boone is an MVP candidate in his career and rates as a better defensive player as well (although Knoblauch's throwing problems didn't arise until 1999). Edge: Mariners

3B: Scott Brosius vs. David Bell

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Brosius   152 530 159  86  19  98  11 .300 .371 .472 .843
Bell      148 516 132  71  18  69   1 .257 .302 .413 .715

Brosius came over from Oakland for Kenny Rogers and had his career year, eventually winning World Series MVP honors. Bell is serviceable in the field and has some pop, but is struggling to keep his OBP over .300. Edge: Yankees

SS: Derek Jeter vs. Carlos Guillen

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Jeter     149 626 203 127  19  84  30 .324 .384 .481 .865
Guillen   151 492 118  79   5  58   4 .240 .312 .329 .641

Edge: Yankees

LF: Chad Curtis vs. Mark McLemore

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Curtis    151 456 111  79  10  56  21 .243 .355 .360 .715
McLemore  124 412 112  79   6  53  40 .273 .380 .374 .754

Al Martin has played a few more games in left field than McLemore, but McLemore has played more overall, as he has filled in at three infield positions and started 60 games in left field. Neither left fielder provided much home-run pop, but McLemore's superior on-base skills give him the edge. Edge: Slight edge to Mariners

CF: Bernie Williams vs. Mike Cameron

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Williams  128 499 169 101  26  97  15 .339 .422 .575 .997
Cameron   148 533 141  96  25 105  33 .264 .349 .486 .835

On the surface, it looks like a big advantage for Williams, who won the AL batting crown with his .339 mark. Cameron, however, makes the comparison close. He'll play more games. And while Williams won a Gold Glove in 1998 and Cameron will win one in 2001, Cameron probably has a little more range and definitely has a better arm. Another key is that Cameron, for whatever reason, can't hit at Safeco: his OPS on the road is 988, at home it's 644. Edge: Yankees, but closer than you think

RF: Paul O'Neill vs. Ichiro

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
O'Neill   152 602 191  95  24 116  15 .317 .372 .510 .882
Ichiro    158 704 247 128   7  79  54 .351 .382 .461 .842

O'Neill has a 40-point advantage in OPS, and it takes a lot of baserunning and fielding skills to make up for that, and O'Neill was no slouch on the bases (15-for-16 in steals) or in the field. It's interesting that Ichiro is being mentioned as an MVP candidate; O'Neill finished 12th in the voting in '98. I suppose Ichiro is more valuable as a leadoff hitter than O'Neill was as a No. 3 hitter, but I'm calling this one even.

DH: Darryl Strawberry vs. Edgar Martinez

Player      G  AB   H   R  HR RBI  SB  AVG  OBP  SLG  OPS
Straw     101 295  73  44  24  57   8 .247 .354 .542 .896
Martinez  131 467 144  80  24 118   5 .309 .427 .547 .974

Chili Davis returned in August, about the time Strawberry went down with cancer. Edge: Mariners

The benches

Player G AB H R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG OPS Raines 109 321 93 53 5 47 8 .290 .395 .383 .778 Girardi 78 254 70 31 3 31 2 .276 .317 .386 .713 Sojo 54 147 34 16 0 14 1 .231 .250 .265 .515 Davis 35 103 30 11 3 9 0 .291 .373 .447 .820 Spencer 27 67 25 18 10 27 0 .373 .411 .910 1321 Ledee 42 79 19 13 1 12 3 .241 .299 .392 .691 Bush 45 71 27 17 0 5 6 .380 .421 .465 .886

Martin 108 310 73 40 7 45 9 .237 .324 .370 .694 Javier 86 259 74 39 4 30 11 .288 .379 .384 .763 Lampkin 80 202 43 27 6 19 0 .211 .303 .339 .642 Gipson 86 54 8 14 0 5 1 .152 .216 .217 .433 Sprague 37 70 22 8 2 13 0 .322 .379 .492 .870

The Mariners have really had just a three-man bench, plus pinch-runner/defensive replacement Charles Gipson. Let's see: Raines and Javier cancel each other out. Lampkin and Girardi are about the same. Sojo was awful as the backup infielder. The big lift for the Yankees came when September callup Shane Spencer had the greatest month of any September callup in history. Not listed: Jay Buhner, who just returned and perhaps supply some power off the bench. Edge: Slight edge to Yankees

The rotations

Pitcher     G   ERA  W   L    IP   H   BB  SO HR  AVG  OOPS
Wells      30  3.49  18  4  214.1 195  29 163 29 .239  .663
Cone       31  3.55  20  7  207.2 186  59 209 20 .327  .673
Pettitte   32  4.24  16 11  216.1 226  87 146 20 .274  .739
Irabu      29  4.06  13  9  173.0 148  76 126 27 .233  .726
Hernandez  21  3.13  12  4  141.0 113  52 131 11 .222  .640
   
Garcia     28  3.17  15  5  195.2 174  57 123 12 .238  .650
Moyer      27  3.57  16  5  171.1 155  35  91 23 .241  .682
Sele       29  3.49  13  5  185.2 184  42  94 23 .259  .716
Abbott     23  4.30  14  3  138.0 126  70 102 17 .244  .753
Pineiro    12  2.08   4  1   60.2  39  17  42  2 .187  .520
Halama     26  5.03   9  6  102.0 127  26  49 18 .305  .829

Both rotations have been blessed with great stability (not including injuries to Gil Meche and Ryan Anderson that knocked them out for the season). Ramiro Mendoza also started 14 games and the Yankees had only what I call six "scrap" starts from non-regulars. The Mariners have had only five "scrap" starts ... well, that doesn't include 17 "crap" starts from John Halama. Here, let's run the complete numbers:

                W-L   Pct.   IP    H   BB  SO  WHIP   ERA
1998 Yankees   86-39  .688 1061.1 981 331 821  1.24  3.85
2001 Mariners  69-27  .719  843.0 824 245 499  1.27  3.90

Now, that includes Halama and his 5.03 ERA. Factor in Joel Pineiro and the Mariners look better. However, a couple reasons to favor the Yankees: 1) ballpark; 2) Yankee stuff much more overpowering; 3) Yankee starters averaged 6.55 innings per start, Mariners' 6.15. Edge: Slight edge to Yankees

The bullpens

Pitcher G ERA W L SV IP H BB SO AVG OOPS Rivera 54 1.91 3 0 36 61.3 48 17 36 .215 .579 Mendoza 41 3.35 10 2 1 130.1 131 30 56 .264 .693 Stanton 67 5.47 4 1 6 79.0 71 26 69 .239 .721 Nelson 45 3.79 5 3 3 40.1 44 22 35 .278 .779 Lloyd 50 1.67 3 0 0 37.2 26 6 20 .191 .528 Holmes 34 3.33 0 3 2 51.1 53 14 31 .270 .714

Sasaki 60 3.30 0 4 41 57.1 41 10 56 .194 .587 Rhodes 60 1.44 8 0 3 56.1 34 12 75 .171 .487 Nelson 59 2.78 4 2 4 55.0 25 37 76 .134 .463 Paniagua 52 4.01 4 3 3 58.1 46 36 38 .211 .681 Franklin 34 3.52 5 1 0 71.2 70 20 56 .251 .742 Charlton 35 3.00 2 1 1 39.0 29 10 43 .209 .578

Let's run the same chart for relievers:

                W-L   Pct.   IP    H   BB  SO  WHIP   ERA
1998 Yankees   28- 9  .757  395.1 376 135 259  1.29  3.76
2001 Mariners  29-12  .707  397.0 286 149 377  1.10  2.99

Seattle's bullpen has already thrown more innings than New York's did all year. Anyway, considering Mike Stanton and Jeff Nelson weren't dominant in '98, it's clear that Seattle's pen has been the mightier. Edge: Mariners

The team numbers
Let's run a final table of team numbers (projected totals for Seattle) and see where each ranks compared to each other and within the league in various categories:

Category     Yankees    Mariners
Record        114-48      116-46
Runs          965 (1)     913 (2)
Runs All.     656 (1)     636 (1)
ERA           3.82 (1)    3.59 (1)
OBP           .364 (1)    .355 (1)
SLG           .460 (4)    .438 (6)
OPS           .824 (1)    .793 (3)
Home runs      207 (4)    168 (8)
Avg. w/ RISP  .300 (2)    .301 (2)
SLG w/ RISP   .481 (2)    .464 (2)
2 outs/RISP   .249 (8)    .267 (2) 
SB            153 (2)     169 (2)
GIDP          145 (13)    109 (2)
Opp Avg.      .247 (1)    .238 (1)
Opp. OBP      .312 (1)    .301 (1)
Opp. SLG      .387 (1)    .386 (2)
Fldg. Pct.    .984 (3)    .987 (1)

David Schoenfield is the baseball editor at ESPN.com.

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