Karl Jon Best is a former Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball is the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada, consisting of teams that play in the National League and the American League...

 relief pitcher

Relief pitcher

A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...

 for the Seattle Mariners

Seattle Mariners

The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...

 (-) and Minnesota Twins

Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. They play in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. The team is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. They played in Metropolitan Stadium from 1961 to 1981 and the...

 . Best was drafted by the Mariners in the 12th round of the 1977 Major League Baseball Draft

1977 Major League Baseball Draft

-First round selections:The following are the first round picks in the 1977 Major League Baseball draft.- Background :The White Sox raised some brows when they passed on right-handed pitcher Bill Gullickson, a native of nearby Orland Park, IL, and selected outfielder Harold Baines as the number one...

 and made his major league debut on August 19, 1983, with the Mariners. He traded to the Detroit Tigers

Detroit Tigers

The Detroit Tigers are a Major League Baseball team located in Detroit, Michigan. One of the American League's eight charter franchises, the club was founded in Detroit in as part of the Western League. The Tigers have won four World Series championships and have won the American League pennant...

 for Bryan Kelly

Bryan Kelly (baseball)

Bryan Keith Kelly is a retired Major League Baseball pitcher. He played during two seasons at the major league level for the Detroit Tigers. He was drafted by the Tigers in the 6th round of the 1981 amateur draft...

 in June while inactive, then was sent to the Twins in exchange for Don Schulze

Don Schulze

Donald Arthur Schulze is a former Major League Baseball pitcher. He pitched all or part of six seasons in the majors, between and , for the Chicago Cubs, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, New York Yankees and San Diego Padres. He also pitched three seasons in Japan, from until for the Orix...

 just before the 1988 season began. Two months after appearing in what would be his final major league game, he was traded to the San Francisco Giants

San Francisco Giants

The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California, playing in the National League West Division....

 in August 1988 for Alan Cockrell

Alan Cockrell

Atlee Alan Cockrell is a retired Major League Baseball outfielder. Cockrell is an alumnus of Joplin, MO's now-closed Parkwood High School where he was a standout on their championship football, baseball, and basketball teams, and the University of Tennessee, where he was an all-American...

 but never pitched an inning for them.

Best made his longest outing in a game against the Twins on August 14, 1986, at the Kingdome

Kingdome

The Kingdome was a multi-purpose stadium located in Seattle's SoDo neighborhood. Owned and operated by King County, the Kingdome opened in 1976 and was best known as the home stadium of the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League , the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball , and the...

. He pitched 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing only a double

Double (baseball)

In baseball, a double is the act of a batter striking the pitched ball and safely reaching second base without being called out by the umpire, without the benefit of a fielder's misplay or another runner being put out on a fielder's choice....

 and two walks

Base on balls

A base on balls is credited to a batter and against a pitcher in baseball statistics when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls balls. It is better known as a walk. The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseball's Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08...

 while striking out

Strikeout

In baseball or softball, a strikeout or strike-out occurs when a batter receives three strikes during his time at bat. A strikeout is a statistic recorded for both pitchers and batters....

 three. The Mariners lost that game 14-1 after starter Mark Langston

Mark Langston

Mark Edward Langston is an American former Major League Baseball left-handed pitcher. He pitched for the Seattle Mariners , Montreal Expos , California and Anaheim Angels , San Diego Padres , and Cleveland Indians...

 gave up nine runs

Run (baseball)

In baseball, a run is scored when a player advances around first, second and third base and returns safely to home plate, touching the bases in that order, before three outs are recorded and all obligations to reach base safely on batted balls are met or assured...

 (two of them unearned) on eight hits

Hit (baseball)

In baseball statistics, a hit , also called a base hit, is credited to a batter when the batter safely reaches first base after hitting the ball into fair territory, without the benefit of an error or a fielder's choice....

in 3 1/3 innings.

Daughter Amanda plays basketball at the University of New Mexico.

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