Retro Mariner Sunday 6/6/10

Time to look back again at another former Mariner. This one holds a place in Mariners history. While only spending time with the Mariners for four seasons, he went into the history books quickly. Chris Bosio is one of only two Mariners pitchers to throw a no-hitter.

Originally drafted by the Pirates in 1981, Chris did not sign, and was re-drafted by the Brewers in 1982. After working his way through the Brewers system, he made his major league debut on August 3, 1986 against the Texas Rangers at County Stadium in Milwaukee. Chris would stay with the Brewers for the next six years. During the 1987 and 1988 seasons, he would be bounced between the starting rotation and the bullpen. Starting in 1989 the Brewers kept Chris as a starter.

After the end of the 1992 season, the Brewers let Chris become a free agent. In December of 1992, he signed a free agent contract with the Mariners. In just his fourth start as a Mariner, on April 22, 1993 he threw the second and last so far, no-hitter in team history. Only 13,604 were on hand that night in the Kingdome to witness history, as Omar Vizquel made a beautiful bare hand catch to rob Ernest Riles of a hit and preserve the no-no. In his Mariner career, no time would come close that one. During the four years that Chris was with the Mariners, he had a .500 record. He was an integral part of the pitching staff that helped capture the Mariners first playoff appearance in 1995.

After being granted free agency in 1996, Chris attempted to come back with the Boston Red Sox in 1997.  Unfortunately, due to injuries he was only able to three starts with the Sarasota Red Sox, and the Gulf Coast League Red Sox. After that time, he decided to hang up the spikes. in 1998, he was named as a special assignment pitching coach for the Mariners. During the 2001 season, he was the pitching coach for a time with the AAA Tacoma Rainiers. That team not only won the PCL, but also had the lowest team ERA lead by Joel Piniero, Brian Fuentes, Brett Tomko, and Denny Stark. During the 2001 season, Chris was also an advanced pro scout for the 116 win Mariners club. In 2003, Chris went with former Mariner manager Lou Piniella and became the pitching coach of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.

Due to family health concerns, Chris left Tampa after the 2003 season and moved with his family to Appleton, Wisconsin. After being away form the game for a couple of years, Chris became the assistant pitching coach for the NCAA Division III University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh Titans in 2006. In 2007, he was named to be the pitching coach for the Division III Lawrence University Vikings in Appleton, WI. During that season, Chris was named as the interim manager also. For 2008, Chris became the pitching coach for the AA Chattanooga Lookouts of the Cincinnati Reds. He was to hold that position for the newly moved AA Carolina Mudcats in 2009. He opted instead to become the pitching coach for the AAA Nashville Sounds of the Brewers organization. August 12, 2009 would see him replace Bill Castro as pitching coach for the big league Brewers. In October of 2009, Chris was named and is currently an advanced pro scout for the Milwaukee Brewers.