SEATTLE — As the Seattle Mariners continue to lose ground in the playoff race, the franchise fired manager Scott Servais Thursday with over a month of the season left to play.
The organization named former Mariner Dan Wilson as Servais' replacement Thursday in the hopes of turning its season around.
The Mariners are 17-25 since July 1 and went from leading the division by 10 games to now trailing the Astros by five games. As of Thursday, the Mariners are five games behind the Houston Astros in the American League (AL) West and 7.5 games back in the wild-card race.
“I appreciate the faith that Jerry, Justin and the Mariners organization have placed in me," Wilson said in a release. “And I’m eager to get to work. I believe this team is capable of playing great baseball this season and look forward to the opportunity to work with this group of players and coaches.”
Here's what to know about the Mariners' newest manager.
Wilson was a former Mariner
Wilson had a 14-year Major League Baseball (MLB) career, including 12 seasons with the Mariners.
Wilson played more games as a catcher than any other player in Mariners history (1,237) and ranks in the top 10 in games played (1,251), hits (1,071), extra-base hits (308), total bases (1,568), doubles (207), RBI (508), at-bats (4,085) and runs scored (433).
Wilson, named to an All-Star team in 1996, held the American League record for career fielding percentage by a catcher when he retired in 2005.
The franchise inducted Wilson into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2012.
Wilson has remained in the organization since retirement
Since Wilson retired in the mid 2000s he's remained a part of the Mariners organization. The Mariners said he has spent 11 years working in an on-field capacity in the Mariners Baseball Operations group. Seven of those years were spent as a special assistant for player development, according to the team.
The Mariners said Wilson's responsibilities included working in Major League camp with the catching group. He also helped Mariners prospects through rookie ball to help them prepare for the major league level.
At times he served as a fill-in manager for several teams in the Mariners minor league system. The Mariners said Wilson was the organization's defensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017 following two years (2014-15) as the Mariners minor league Catching Coordinator.
Wilson's family is involved in Seattle community
Wilson and his wife, Annie, raised four children, Sofia, Josephine, Elijah and Abraham, in Seattle. His son, Elijah, is a catcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates minor league system.
The Mariners said the Wilson family has been "actively involved" in the Seattle community since they arrived in 1994. The family has supported Seattle's First Place School, a private nonprofit K-6 school for children facing homelessness, All God's Children's International and Seattle Children's.