1
I will cheerfully acknowledge that the best years in the history of the Mariner franchise were also the Lou Pinella years. Sweet Lou only 3 losing seasons in his 10 as M's field boss.
Obviously, Lou (and the massive young talent base that he walked in to) was a HUGE part of the reason for the M's winning culture in this era. One of Lou's greatest managerial talents was looking around at the available players and saying, "THAT ONE," and being right. That being said, Dan Wilson was the catcher that Lou hand picked after having seen him in action in Cincinnati.
It may even be that the unique synergy between Lou and Dan simply amplified and reinforced the consistent message of playing smart, hard-nosed, baseball day-in and day-out.