The drought is over, and baseball in Seattle will never be the same.
The drought is over, and baseball in Seattle will never be the same.
A weekend that will never be forgotten in Seattle has come to an end, and the weight of an entire city has been lifted. I did my best to sum it up.
Baseball in Seattle has been anything but perfect over the years. There have been plenty of moments and glimpses of glory, but nothing quite like this.
On Friday night, the Seattle Mariners found out in the early stages of their game against Oakland that the Orioles had beaten the Yankees. The team that was chasing them had won but given them the opportunity to control their own destiny.
It didn’t happen quickly. The offense struggled throughout the night, getting stifled by a handful of uninspiring Oakland bullpen arms. Logan Gilbert did his job, making just one mistake all night on a home run by Oakland catcher Shea Langeliers tied the game at 1.
The offense failed to score, keeping the score deadlocked late into the Seattle night. It almost seemed too perfect. This team has a flare for the dramatic, Seattle manager Scott Servais all but guaranteed a clinch on Friday.
T-Mobile Park was thick with anticipation, it is impossible to ignore all the failureseveryone in that building had endured in every year since 2001. This team is different though. Every game they expect to win, an attitude that has been embraced by fans who just can’t wait to see what kind of chaos will ensue in a Mariners win.
The ninth inning seemed like destiny from the start. Mitch Haniger, Carlos Santana and Cal Raleigh would all get the chance to purge Seattle of 20 years of heartbreak.
Haniger and Santana have repeatedly put this team on their back, coming up massive when the team needed them most. After two quick strikeouts, it was the rookie catcher who hit all of .180 in 2021 who stepped to the plate.
If this team has taught us anything, it is that the past does not matter. This version of the Mariners had already separated themselves from the countless teams before them. Cal Raleigh is no different, performing at a level we have simply not seen from a Mariner catcher.
In the most improbable, but appropriate fashions Cal Raleigh sat on a low slider, smacking it off the glass of the Hit it Here Cafe. The impact of the ball on the glass was nothing compared to the pandemonium that overtook Seattle.
The celebration that followed was one of the greatest moments in the history of Seattle sports. Tears, joy, and utter elation filled a stadium that has not seen a playoff team in over 20 years.
So many of these players, staff, and people who cover the team have put their heart and soul into helping create a moment like this. I spoke with Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times, who has been around this organization since 2006. I asked him what it was like to be a part of a celebration like that.
“All those years of frustration and disappointment and failure were expelled in the release of emotion and joy. Being around this organization for so long, and knowing so many of the people that work in it beyond the players and seeing what everyone endures each season, it was pretty cool. You almost felt a little jealous ‘cause you know there is no situation in your life – either work or personal -- where you’ll have a reason to celebrate with coworkers or friends quite like that.”
All of this is true. So much pent-up emotion went into one swing, and every bit of it was released in the celebration. Although it was the players on the field that snapped the drought, so many people had an invested interest beyond the surface level.
Media members like Divish who have covered this team through thick and thin were involved in a champagne shower like no other. Perhaps the most important part was that two important voices in Seattle sports got to be the soundtrack to pure ecstasy, and man they deserved it.
Manager Scott Servais led a party on the field that led to fans staying in celebration for over two hours in T-Mobile Park. It was a scene that saw manager Scott Servais cut loose, and speak on pure emotion that was no doubt coursing through his veins.
On Saturday there were plenty of hangovers were being nursed, but that was not what felt different in the stadium. A different feel filled the air.
A 20-year weight had been lifted off the shoulders of everybody in that building, a certain freedom and lack of a stress cloud that had been hovering over them For twenty years you could get so close, but yet you still found yourself chasing a moment like this.
This weekend everything was perfect, but the sentiment Mitch Haniger shared has been echoed throughout the clubhouse. They are not done yet. It seems ever likely they will travel to Toronto to face a talented Blue Jays team in a deafening Rogers Centre.
Seattle must win that series to receive a chance to play in Seattle. If there is a team that can tackle this challenge, it is this one.
This club is different, and they did the one thing that could prove that. Snapped the f**king drought. Baseball in Seattle will never be the same.