For six years, the Seattle Mariners have been the only members of a club that no one wants to be a part of.
When the Washington Nationals won the National League pennant in 2019, the Mariners became the only MLB team to never reach the World Series.
It’s a questionable mark on a Mariners franchise that debuted nearly fifty years ago, in 1977.
But this club could disappear very soon.
The Mariners are closing in on their first World Series berth after beating the Blue Jays in Games 1 and 2 of the ALCS in Toronto.
The next three games of the best-of-seven playoff series will, if necessary, take place in Seattle, with the Mariners needing just two more wins to capture the American League pennant.
“We know we have work to do,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “These shows have a life of their own. We have a lot of work to do and we need to stay focused on where we’re going.”
The M have their share of all-time great players, from Ken Griffey Jr. to Randy Johnson to Alex Rodriguez, Edgar Martinez and Ichiro Suzuki.
Johnson and Rodriguez won championships elsewhere — A-Rod doing so with the Yankees, of course — while Martinez and Ichiro were part of Seattle’s 2001 team that set an MLB record with 116 regular-season wins.
But this 2001 season ended like so many others: in heartbreak. The Yankees needed just five games to eliminate the Mariners in the ALCS that year.
A 20-year playoff drought followed. Even the Mariners’ return to the playoffs in 2022 was short-lived, as they were swept in the ALDS by the eventual champion Houston Astros.
But this year could be different.
Seattle has already made MLB history this year, as star slugger Cal Raleigh’s 60 home runs set single-season marks for a leadoff catcher and a switch-hitter.
The M’s possess perhaps the deepest rotation in baseball, with Logan Gilbert, Bryan Woo, Luis Castillo and George Kirby all capable of dominating on a given night – and Bryce Miller proving he can do the same in Game 1 of the ALCS.
And it seems destiny is on the Mariners’ side, never more so than in their 15-inning victory over the Detroit Tigers in Game 5 of the ALDS.
“I’m so happy for the city,” Julio Rodriguez said after the M’s punched their ticket to the ALCS, according to MLB.com. “I don’t think there’s a hungrier fan base than Mariners fans.”
After beating the Yankees in the ALDS in four games, the top-seeded Blue Jays were able to get their pitching lined up for the ALCS.
The Mariners, meanwhile, exhausted their personnel as their ALDS series went the distance.
Still, Seattle found a way to win both games in Toronto, where the Blue Jays were an AL-best 54-27 in the regular season and 2-0 in the previous round.
In the Mariners’ 3-1 Game 1 win, Miller — who had a 5.68 ERA in the regular season — held the Jays’ loaded lineup to one run in six innings, striking out 17 of the last 19 batters he faced.
In their 10-3 win in Game 2, the Mariners scored rookie phenom Trey Yesavage for five runs in four innings. It was Yesavage’s first start since striking out 11 Yankees in 5.1 hitless innings in the ALDS.
After the Blue Jays put up 34 runs in four ALDS games, they only totaled four runs in two ALCS games. Toronto star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 0-for-7 in the series after going 9-for-17 (.529) with three homers, nine RBIs and a 1.609 OPS in the final round against the Yankees.
“As long as you do your best, you can go to bed happy at night,” said Josh Naylor, who was one of three Mariners to homer in Game 2. “We have full confidence in each other as teammates, as an entire locker room, including the coaching staff. We want to play hard. If you play hard, good things will happen.”
Kirby, who pitched to a 2.70 ERA in two ALDS starts, is expected to start Game 3 for Seattle on Wednesday, while Toronto turns to Shane Bieber, who allowed three runs (two earned) in 2.2 innings in his only start against the Yankees.
Castillo, who has pitched six scoreless innings in two ALDS appearances, is set to start Game 4 on Thursday. The Jays have not announced a starter for Game 4, but are expected to go with 41-year-old Max Scherzer, who pitched to a 5.19 ERA in the regular season and was left out of the ALDS roster.
No one in Seattle is celebrating yet, especially with the franchise’s long history of disappointment hanging overhead like a rain cloud.
But everything is set for the Mariners upon their return to T-Mobile Park, where they went 51-30 in the regular season.
“We know what that atmosphere is going to be like,” Wilson said. “We’re so excited to go. The fans have really been great. We can’t thank them enough for the strength they showed at the stadium and at home. So we can’t wait to come back and feel that energy.”
