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Last night, a Mariners franchise record was tied. It was a super big deal. Just in case you didn't celebrate at the time, here is a screenshot capturing the historic moment.
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In the bottom of the third inning, Shawn O'Malley worked a five-pitch walk off of Cole Hamels. Hooray! This was O'Malley's sixth walk since being called up at the start of the month. So far, he's recorded at least one base on balls in each of his five appearances. Only one other M's hitter in franchise history has walked in his first five (or more) games as a member of the Seattle Mariners.
| Name | Streak Start | Streak End | Games | PA | BB | BA | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Shawn O'Malley | 9/2/2015 | ongoing | 5 | 19 | 6 | 0.583 | 0.684 | 0.917 | 1.601 |
| Mark Whiten | 8/16/1996 | 8/22/1996 | 5 | 22 | 8 | 0.357 | 0.591 | 0.786 | 1.377 |
| Justin Ruggiano | 4/6/2015 | 4/10/2015 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.429 | 0.000 | 0.429 |
| Robinson Cano | 3/31/2014 | 4/2/2014 | 3 | 15 | 4 | 0.455 | 0.600 | 0.545 | 1.145 |
| Mike Carp | 6/17/2009 | 6/21/2009 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0.429 | 0.636 | 0.429 | 1.065 |
| Bucky Jacobsen | 7/16/2004 | 7/18/2004 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 0.625 | 0.769 | 1.375 | 2.144 |
| Ken Griffey | 8/31/1990 | 9/3/1990 | 3 | 15 | 6 | 0.222 | 0.533 | 0.222 | 0.756 |
| Alvin Davis | 4/11/1984 | 4/14/1984 | 3 | 12 | 4 | 0.375 | 0.583 | 1.125 | 1.708 |
| Ted Cox | 4/9/1980 | 4/12/1980 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 0.100 | 0.308 | 0.200 | 0.508 |
This, of course, is pretty obscure and far from a Big Deal. It also isn't particularly indicative of the fact that O'Malley will necessarily have an amazing future in MLB. (Some of the players on this list were/are very good and some of the players on this list are Ted Cox and Mike Carp.) Shawn O'Malley is a 27-year-old rookie who almost certainly doesn't have what it takes to excel offensively in the majors. It's possible that he could prove to be a semi-useful player moving forward, which would be neat, but even if he doesn't his first week with the Mariners has been a lot of fun.
After his first five games, O'Malley's slash line is an ultra robust .583/.684/.917 (19 PA). OBVIOUSLY this is a SSS, but he has been on the bases a ton so far in September. Dude has more hits (seven) and just as many walks (six) as he does outs made with the Mariners. He reached base safely in 13 of his first 16 PA with Seattle! For a super ridiculous comparison, it took Edgar Martinez 30 PA with the M's to reach base safely 13 times. It took A-Rod 39 PA. And it took Ken Griffey Jr. 47 PA.
O'Malley did fail to get a hit last night, ending his four-game hit streak, but his walk did keep his on base streak going. That being said, he has a ways to go if he wants to conquer the all-time "reached base safely at the beginning of his career as a Mariner" streak. That record was set back in 1984 by Alvin Davis who reached based in his first FORTY SEVEN games with the M's. (This is also the longest reached base safely streak in franchise history.) It's little wonder Davis won Rookie of the Year in '84.
The Mariners lineup for tonight hasn't been released yet, but if O'Malley is playing it'll be fun to follow along and see if he's able to pick up another walk and sit alone atop this esoteric leaderboard. At this point in the season, we have to work a little harder to find things to root for, but this seems like a pretty neat thing.
Go M's.