Seattle Parties Like It's 2001

The date was Friday, September 30, 2022. After the New York Yankees game ended, I saw the ESPN ticker and noticed that the Seattle Mariners were in the bottom of the ninth tied at one, so I switched to MLB Network to see the Mariners at bat. The reason is simple: the Mariners could clinch a postseason berth that evening. Carlos Santana came up short, leaving Cal Raleigh to come to the plate with two outs--one out away from extra innings. I was pulling for a walk-off HR, because it would be so fitting if the long suffering of Mariners fans would end on one swing. Sure enough, that's what happened. Raleigh's shot went long, it went far, and it hit the foul pole. When that ball hit the foul pole, the 21-year itch came to an epic end.

The Mariners won 2-1 in walk-off fashion, and with the win, they are in the postseason for the first time since their monumental 116-win season in 2001. Think about how long ago that is. The Expos were around. The Miami Marlins were known as the Florida Marlins. Joe Torre was the manager of the Yankees. The Arizona Diamondbacks and the Tampa Bay Devil Rays were each in their fourth seasons, and the Houston Astros were in the National League. Elsewhere, Ray Bourque was just months removed from winning the Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche, the World Wrestling Federation didn't "get the F out" yet, George W. Bush was President, Seattle still had the SuperSonics, the NFL's Houston Texans didn't exist yet, and as for myself, I was a junior in high school.

Overall, while this is the Mariners' 46th season of play, they will only participate in their fifth postseason in franchise history. The Mariners debuted in 1977, the same year as the Toronto Blue Jays, but while the Jays' first postseason came in their 9th year (1985), the Mariners wouldn't enjoy their first taste of the postseason until 1995, their 19th year. Seattle won the American League West that season, doing so by defeating the then-named California Angels in a tiebreaker. The Mariners won the West again in 1997, while 2000 would see them return to the postseason as the AL's Wild Card. The aforementioned 2001 season was their greatest, but like the others, it didn't result in a pennant. The Mariners became the unfortunate owners of pro sports' longest playoff drought on December 31, 2017, when the Buffalo Bills ended their own drought, and after the Washington Nationals won the 2019 NLCS (and went on to win the World Series), the Mariners became the only team in baseball without a pennant.

The 2022 Mariners have a good group of hitters, who are led by Julio Rodriguez. The player known as "J-Rod" leads the team in batting average; hitting .280 this season, and has 27 home runs and 73 runs batted in. Eugenio Suarez has 31 HRs and 85 RBIs, with both totals leading the team this season. Cal Raleigh's postseason berth-clinching walk-off HR was his 26th overall homer of the season, as well as his 62nd RBI, while Ty France leads the team in hits, and his 82 RBIs only trail Suarez. The Mariners boast a pretty good rotation consisting of Robbie Ray, Marco Gonzales, and Logan Gilbert, and they added Luis Castillo via a trade with the Cincinnati Reds.

With the Mariners' drought ending, the unfortunate team who now carries the longest playoff drought in sports: the NBA's Sacramento Kings, who haven't reached the playoffs since the 2005-06 season. Regarding MLB, the longest drought is now owned by the Philadelphia Phillies, though that may not last, as the Phillies are above the playoff line. The American League's postseason field is complete, as the Tampa Bay Rays locked in a spot before Seattle's walk-off win. All that's left to determine is positioning among the Wild Cards, as the seed for the division champions are locked in. The Mariners, Rays, and Blue Jays will be the Wild Cards. The #1 Wild Card will be the only one who will host a Wild Card Series, while the other two will end up going on the road. Regarding tiebreakers, the Mariners won the season series against the Jays, but not against the Rays. October 22, 2001: that was the last time that the Mariners played a postseason game. They will play at least two more after the 2022 regular season comes to a close.