Everyone piles on the Seattle Mariners for the infamous 1997 trade that saw them send Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek to the Boston Red Sox for relief pitcher Heathcliff Slocumb. Yes, it was an awful deal. But what necessitated that move was far worse and yet it gets glossed over. Norm Charlton was the ultimate gascan in 1997.
It’s baffling to think about how bad the closer was in the lead up to the trade deadline in 1997. Well, Charlton was just as terrible after it as well. Why Seattle kept calling on him out of the bullpen will forever be one of baseball’s great mysteries.
Anyway, Charlton appeared in 49 games prior to Seattle trading for Slocumb that season. He compiled a diabolical 2-7 record with eight blown saves and a mind-blowingly high 7.85 ERA. Despite this, the Mariners were still in the thick of the AL West race.
Do you want to know why Norm Charlton was the ultimate gascan in 1997? Seattle traded for a closer with five blown saves and a 5.79 ERA. And that was an upgrade at the position.
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Norm Charlton keeps going gascan in 1997
The Norm Charlton gascan routine in 1997 didn’t end with the Seattle Mariners trading for Slocumb. Not with Lou Piniella manning the Kingdome dugout. He called upon the reliever another 22 times that season, mostly in high-leverage situations.
Charlton contrived to blow three more saves before season’s end, although only one of these was the ninth inning variety. He costed the team a chance at victory on several other occasions. In the history of baseball, there may never be a gascan performance quite like this. Not even Jose Mesa could match this statline:
| Games | W-L | Saves | BS | ERA | WHIP |
| 71 | 3-8 | 14 | 11 | 7.27 | 1.926 |
Nothing here makes any sense. Charlton being summoned from the bullpen 71 times with these numbers is utterly ridiculous. His WHIP was pretty much two. That equates to him allowing two guys to reach base in every inning he pitched and there was basically a 75 percent chance one would score.
Here’s the icing on the cake. The Mariners still won the AL West and made the playoffs in 1997. Charlton led what was without question one of the worst bullpens ever assembled and the team advanced to the postseason anyway.
