The Seattle Mariners hired Don Wakamatsu as their new manager on Wednesday making the 45-year-old the first Asian-American manager in Major League Baseball history.

Wakamatsu will be managing in a city with a large Asian population.

`If I can set some type of stepping stone for future Japanese-Americans, I`m glad to bear the burden of that torch,` he said Wednesday.

SEATTLE, Washington, May 18, 2008 (AFP) - Ichiro Suzuki set the Seattle Mariners' record for stolen bases on Sunday, stealing a pair of bases in the 3-2 victory over San Diego in an interleague contest.

SEATTLE, Washington, May 11, 2008 (AFP) - Seattle Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson had his Major League Baseball suspension reduced from six games to five after appealing the punishment, the club announced Sunday.

NEW YORK, May 9, 2008 (AFP) - Seattle Mariners first baseman Richie Sexson was suspended six games by Major League Baseball here Friday, one day after inciting a benches-clearing brawl in a game against the Texas Rangers.

Sexson, who was also fined an undisclosed amount, has appealed the punishments for what baseball officials termed 'his violent and aggressive actions.'

SEATTLE, Washington, April 25, 2008 (AFP) - Japanese catcher Kenji Johjima signed a three-year contract extension with Major League Baseball's Seattle Mariners here Friday, linking him with the club through the 2011 season.

SEATTLE, Washington, Feb 8, 2008 (AFP) - Southpaw pitcher Erik Bedard was obtained by the Seattle Mariners for five players in a Major League Baseball trade with Baltimore finalized Friday after Bedard passed a physical.

SEATTLE, Washington, Dec 20, 2007 (AFP) - The Seattle Mariners inked free agent Carlos Silva on Thursday, agreeing to a four-year contract with the sinkerball specialist.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but the Seattle Times reported on its website that the deal is worth 44 million dollars.

The Venezuelan has spent the last four seasons with the Minnesota Twins.

TOKYO, Nov 27, 2007 (AFP) - Ichiro Suzuki said he considered moving to the New York Yankees before deciding -- with his wife's encouragement -- to stick with the underperforming Seattle Mariners.

'I had been wavering in my mind since early spring,' the Japanese baseball star admitted in an interview with Kyodo News published Tuesday.

LOS ANGELES, Sept 22, 2007 (AFP) - Miguel Batista allowed one run in 5 1/3 innings and Seattle's offence turned in timely hitting to keep the Anaheim Angels from clinching their third American League West Division crown in the last four seasons.

Batista (15-11) kept the Angels potent offence quiet, working around six hits and five walks while allowing just one extra-base hit and striking out four to pick up his second straight win in a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

NEW YORK, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - Seattle Mariners manager pitcher Jorge Campillo received a four-game suspension on Friday from Major League Baseball, which also issued a one-game banishment to Mariners manager John McLaren.

McLaren was to serve his suspension Friday when Seattle plays at the Los Angeles Angels while Campillo was expected to file an appeal. Each was also fined an undisclosed sum.

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept 9, 2007 (AFP) - The Seattle Mariners pounded out 19 hits and drove Detroit Tigers starter Jeremy Bonderman out of the game in the second Sunday in a 14-7 victory that avoided a three-game series sweep.

Jose Guillen put the Mariners ahead 2-0 in the first with a two-run double.

But Seattle starter Felix Hernandez gave the lead right back, allowing four runs in the bottom half of the first.

DETROIT, Michigan, Sept 7, 2007 (AFP) - Justin Verlander pitched eight stellar innings Friday as the Detroit Tigers coasted to a 6-1 victory over the Seattle Mariners in the opener of a critical weekend series.

The Tigers have won three games in a row for the first time since July to draw within 2 1/2 games of the New York Yankees in the American League wild card race.

The loss did not help the postseason hopes of the Mariners, as they fell 3 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the race for the wild card. New York played Kansas City later Friday.

NEW YORK, Sept 4, 2007 (AFP) - Taiwanese pitcher Wang Chien-ming combined with home run king Alex Rodriguez to lift the New York Yankees over Seattle in a key Major League Baseball contest Tuesday.

Wang joined Boston's Josh Beckett as baseball's first 17-game winners and Alex Rodriguez blasted his major league-leading 46th homer as the Yankees pounded the Seattle Mariners, 12-3, in a battle of the top two clubs in the American League wild card race.

NEW YORK, Sept 3, 2007 (AFP) - Ichiro Suzuki homered and drove in two runs here on Monday as the Seattle Mariners beat the New York Yankees 7-1 to narrow the gap in the American League wild card race.

The Mariners knocked out Yankees starter Roger Clemens after just four innings and rode a strong performance by their own Felix Hernandez to snap a nine-game losing streak.

TORONTO, Sept 2, 2007 (AFP) - A.J. Burnett allowed three runs and four hits in seven innings and Matt Stairs homered in his third straight game Sunday as the Toronto Blue Jays handed the slumping Seattle Mariners their ninth straight defeat.

Burnett led the Blue Jays to a 6-4 victory to complete a three-game sweep.

The Mariners, enduring their longest losing streak since an 11-game skid from August 10-20 of last season, remained two games behind the New York Yankees in the American League wild card race.

SEATTLE, Washington, Aug 29, 2007 (AFP) - Jered Weaver scattered seven hits in a career-high eight innings and Vladimir Guerrero and Jeff Mathis each homered to help the Los Angeles Angels to an 8-2 victory over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

The victory gave the Angels a sweep of their three-game series and saw them expand their lead over the Mariners in the American League West to five games. The Angels are 11-4 against the Mariners this season.

SEATTLE, Washington, July 29, 2007 (AFP) - Seattle outfielder Ichiro Suzuki notched the 1,500th hit of his Major League Baseball career here Sunday in the Mariners' game against the Oakland Athletics.

The Japanese star singled off lefthander Lenny DiNardo in the second inning. The milestone came in his 1,060th major league game, making the 2001 American League Most Valuale Player the third-fastest hitter to that mark.

Al Simmons (1,040 games) and George Sisler (1,048) were the only other players to reach 1,500 hits faster.