BY TODD DYBAS / SEATTLESPORTSONLINE.COM

1983. Nintendo debuts in Japan; Tom Brokaw becomes lead anchor for NBC Nightly News; Microsoft Word is first released; the Balitmore Orioles win the World Series.

While all of that was going on, the Mariners were making history of their own, finishing with more than 100 losses (102) for the third time in franchise history. In honor of the 2008 team losing its 100th game Wednesday night, a look at how the two teams compare.

1983 MARINERS
60-102, .370 pct.
Home park: Kingdome
Attendance: 13th out of 14
Runs: scored 558, allowed 740
- Finished 39 games behind the Chicago White Sox, back when there were just East and West divisions.
- Last in runs per game, 3.44. Seventh in ERA, 4.57
- 1 All-Star (Matt Young), 1 future Hall of Famer (Gaylord Perry)

First base
1983: Pat Putnam. Yes, the Pat Putnam. The Mariners first baseman that season led the team with 19 home runs and 67 RBIs. The Mariners traded Ron Musselman in the 1982 offseason to acquire Putnam. The Mariners traded Putnam to the Twins in late August of the 1984 season. Seattle received Carson Carroll as the player to be named later in the deal. He never played a Major League game.
2008: Richie Sexson. Remember him? Sexson was finally cut by the Mariners July 11 after striking out 76 times in 74 games. Bad in the field, bad at the plate, upset with fans who booed him.
Advantage: 1983 Mariners. At least Putnam could often put it n play.

Second base
1983: Tony Bernazard. The Mariners acquired Bernazard in June, perhaps trying for a pennant push, when they sent Julio Cruz to the White Sox. Bernazard hit .267, six home runs, and drove in 30 runs in 300 at-bats for the Mariners. He also stole 21 bases. In the 1983 offseason, Bernazard had showed enough to fetch Gorman Thomas and Jack Perconte from the Cleveland Indians. Perconte was the Seattle second baseman for the next two years. Thomas was hurt in 1984, but hit 32 home runs in 1985 for the Mariners. Bernazard went on to play four seasons with Cleveland, three of them very solid.
2008: Jose Lopez. Lopez is wrapping up the best year of his career. Lopez will finish with career highs in average, home runs, RBIs, double, hits, slugging percentage and OPS.
Advantage: 2008 Mariners. Lopez is better across the board than Bernazard was in '83.

Third base
1983: Jamie Allen. Allen was drafted in the second round by the Mariners in 1979, and '83 was his only big league season. Allen hit .223 in 273 at-bats. The Twins originally drafted Allen in 1976, using the 10th overall selection. Allen, born in Yakima, chose not to sign at the time.
2008: Adrian Beltre. Beltre played through pain all year. He led the team in home runs with 25, and had another excellent season in the field.
Advantage: 2008 Mariners.

Shortstop
1983: Spike Owen. Owen, a hot young prospect at the time, finished his rookie year hitting .196. Owen was taken sixth overall by the Mariners in the 1982 draft. He was traded, along with Dave Henderson, to the Boston Red Sox in 1986 for four players, Rey Quinones, Mike Trujillo, John Christensen and Mike Brown, and cash.
2008: Yuniesky Betancourt. Betancourt's average is down 20 points from last season. He's committed 10 more errors than Owen did in '83, though they share a similar fielding percentage, .967 for Betancourt, and .970 for Owen. Betancourt also played almost twice as many innings.
Advantage: 2008 Mariners.

Catcher
1983: Rick Sweet. Sweet was purchased from the Mets on March 21, 1982, and released almost two years to the day later. In Sweet's 249 at-bats that season, he had more strikeouts (26) than RBIs (22). Sweet played three seasons in the Majors, two with Seattle.
2008: Kenji Johjima. Johjima has been abominable this season. A .221 batting average, an on-base percentage of .270, not to mention seven errors in just 96 games.
Advantage: 1983 Mariners, simply because Johjima may be the most overpayed player in Major League baseball this year.

Left field
1983: Steve Henderson. Henderson was a free agent signed by the Mariners prior to the season. He hit .294 in '83, whacking 10 home runs and driving in 54 runs.
2008: Raul Ibanez. Ibanez, often criticized for his fielding, was excellent at the plate this season. He has a chance to hit .300 or better for the second time in his career, and drove in 100 runs for the third consecutive season.
Advantage: 2008 Mariners.

Center field
1983: Dave Henderson. A Seattle first-round pick in 1977, Hendu hit 17 homers in '83. Henderson became an important part of the Oakland Athletics' late 80s, early 90s dominance.
2008: Jeremy Reed. Reed finally received some playing time this season, but has shown little pop and little speed. His two home runs in 280 at-bats are the same as Owen had in 1983. Not a good comparison.
Advantage: 1983 Mariners.

Right field
1983: Al Cowens. The 1983season was Cowens' second with the Mariners. He hit 20 homers in 1982, but batted a paltry .205 in '83. Of the four full seasons he played with Seattle, 1983 was by far Cowens' poorest. It was the only season he wasn't in double figures in home runs.
2008: Ichiro. More than 200 hits, 40 steals, and, likely 100 runs again for Ichiro. He's been caught stealing only four times this season. What else is new?
Advantage: Duh.

DH
1983: Richie Zisk. The 1983 season was the final of Zisk's 13 years in the Major Leagues, three with Seattle. He hit 12 homers in 285 at-bats. Playing on a team with 102 losses was a far cry from the glory days Zisk spent with Pittsburgh in the mid-70s.
2008: Jose Vidro. Vidro's two-season stint with the Mariners ended when the club released him in early August. After hitting .314 in 2007, Vidro hit .234 and struck out twice as many times as he walked.
Advantage: 1983 Mariners.

Ace
1983: Matt Young. The rookie left-hander won a team-high 11 games, something no one on the Mariners 2008 pitching staff will match. Young was the team's lone All-Star, finishing with two shutouts and a 3.27 ERA.
2008: Felix Hernandez. Hernandez finishes 9-11, guaranteeing the Mariners will not have a 10-game winner for the third time in team history. In three full seasons, Hernandez has had only one winning one, 2007, when he went 14-7. Hernandez threw the most innings of his career, and was one short of a career high in strikeouts.
Advantage: Push. Young won more games, threw more innings, more complete games and had a lower ERA. Hernandez suffered from the second-lowest run support average in the league.

Closer
1983: Bill Caudill. Caudill saved 26 games, but had a bloated ERA of 4.71. The previous season he actually finished seventh for the Cy Young after saving 26 games, winning 12, all with a 2.35 ERA. The following season, Caudill had a 2.71 ERA for Oakland. He was a good pitcher whose worst season came at the worst time.
2008: J.J. Putz. We'll go with Putz here because he was slated as the closer to open the year, and finishes the year in that spot. Putz has beaten his ERA down to 3.65 after a disastrous start to the season, thanks to a strong September during which he has four saves and has not given up a run in six appearances.
Advantage: 2008 Mariners.

Managers
1983: Rene Lachemann and Del Crandall. Lachemann was fired 73 games into the season, the Mariners 26-47 at the time. Crandall went 34-55 the rest of the way.
2008: John McLaren and Jim Riggleman. McLaren was 25-47 when he was dismissed, the Mariners last in the Majors at the time. Riggleman is 33-53 since, keeping the Mariners last in the Major Leagues.
Advantage: Uh ... push.

Total
2008 Mariners 6, 1983 Mariners 4

Thanks to baseballreference.com for much of the information.