Seahawks v. Mariners

With the imminent return of Ken Griffey Jr. to the Seattle sports scene, it's a good time to look at how both major Seattle professional teams have performed over their histories.

Before we get to the numbers, the broad strokes: Both teams sucked early, but the Seahawks became competitive more quickly. In the middle of the Dark Ages of Behring, the M's captured the imaginations of the entire Pacific Northwest. Almost on cue, when the Mariners started declining in the early part of this decade, the Hawks started an amazing run of playoff success. Both teams are coming off an awful 2008, but the general trend has been this: When people around the PNW are sporting one team's gear proudly, the other team's merch is on DEEEEEP discount.

As you know, the M's aren't my team.. But I know a lot of my readers are probably Mariners fans, so I'll try to be as even-handed as possible with my comparison of both teams...

All-time regular season winning percentage
Seahawks: .484
Mariners: .470

Playoff appearances (Keep in mind that it's harder to make the MLB playoffs)
Seahawks: 1983, 1984, 1987, 1988, 1999, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 (10)
Mariners: 1995, 1997, 2000, 2001 (4)

Who was better each year (1977-2008) based on winning percentage?
1977: Mariners
1978: Seahawks
1979: Seahawks
1980: Mariners
1981: Mariners
1982: Mariners
1983: Seahawks
1984: Seahawks
1985: Seahawks
1986: Seahawks
1987: Seahawks
1988: Seahawks
1989: Mariners
1990: Seahawks
1991: Mariners
1992: Mariners
1993: Mariners
1994: Mariners
1995: Mariners
1996: Mariners
1997: Mariners
1998: Seahawks
1999: Seahawks
2000: Mariners
2001: Mariners
2002: Mariners
2003: Seahawks
2004: Seahawks
2005: Seahawks
2006: Seahawks
2007: Seahawks
2008: Mariners

Yup. That's 16-16 over 32 common seasons...

So who will claim control of the Seattle sports scene? Given the history, one is about to start sucking consistently while the other competes for Championships...