In Major League Baseball, it takes more than one skilled player to field a championship contender. It takes talent all over the field at a variety of positions, both in terms of pitchers and hitters. While having a star pitcher and a star hitter at the same time is no guarantee of success, it does put your team in a position to have the type of season that fans will talk about for generations.

It’s not uncommon for an outstanding season from a pitcher and position player duo to add 20 wins or more, according to Baseball Reference’s wins above replacement player metric. The number is designed to illustrate the difference between a star player and the type of player that would be considered “replacement level”—that is, one who could be easily signed as a midseason free agent or called up from the minor leagues.Using wins above replacement, here’s a list of the seasons in franchise history that had a pitcher and hitter with the most combined value. Note that, for the purpose of capturing and examining the game’s “modern era”, only seasons after 1969 were used for this list.

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Are These the Top Pitcher/Position Duos in Seattle Mariners History?

#10. 1992 Seattle Mariners
– Edgar Martinez: 6.5 WAR (#10 position player in 1992)
– Dave Fleming: 5.1 WAR (#19 pitcher in 1992)
– Total: 11.6 WAR

#9. 1994 Seattle Mariners
– Ken Griffey Jr.: 6.9 WAR (#3 position player in 1994)
– Randy Johnson: 5.5 WAR (#5 pitcher in 1994)
– Total: 12.4 WAR

#8. 2009 Seattle Mariners
– Franklin Gutierrez: 6.6 WAR (#12 position player in 2009)
– Felix Hernandez: 5.9 WAR (#13 pitcher in 2009)
– Total: 12.5 WAR

#7. 2014 Seattle Mariners
– Robinson Canó: 6.3 WAR (#10 position player in 2014)
– Felix Hernandez: 6.4 WAR (#5 pitcher in 2014)
– Total: 12.7 WAR

#6. 2000 Seattle Mariners
– Alex Rodriguez: 10.4 WAR (#1 position player in 2000)
– Paul Abbott: 2.6 WAR (#64 pitcher in 2000)
– Total: 13 WAR

#5. 2001 Seattle Mariners
– Bret Boone: 8.8 WAR (#4 position player in 2001)
– Freddy Garcia: 4.2 WAR (#22 pitcher in 2001)
– Total: 13 WAR

#4. 1998 Seattle Mariners
– Alex Rodriguez: 8.5 WAR (#1 position player in 1998)
– Jamie Moyer: 5.6 WAR (#10 pitcher in 1998)
– Total: 14.1 WAR

#3. 1993 Seattle Mariners
– Ken Griffey Jr.: 8.8 WAR (#2 position player in 1993)
– Randy Johnson: 6.6 WAR (#6 pitcher in 1993)
– Total: 15.4 WAR

#2. 1995 Seattle Mariners
– Edgar Martinez: 7 WAR (#4 position player in 1995)
– Randy Johnson: 8.6 WAR (#2 pitcher in 1995)
– Total: 15.6 WAR

#1. 1997 Seattle Mariners
– Ken Griffey Jr.: 9.1 WAR (#3 position player in 1997) Randy Johnson: 8 WAR (#4 pitcher in 1997)
– Total: 17.1 WAR

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The above article first appeared on Stacker and has been republished with permission. The Auburn Examiner has not independently verified its content.