OPINION: Ok Mariners, I’m Ready to Get Hurt Again

Ethan Kilbreath

For 20 years, I’ve been engaged in a toxic relationship.

It hasn’t been with any girl, relative, or friend, but rather with a baseball franchise from the Pacific Northwest, the Seattle Mariners.

It’s no secret that the Mariners have flailed through the past two decades, achieving mediocrity at their absolute peak, and coming up shy of a postseason bid since 2001. For me, the Mariners playoff drought, quite literally, is a tale as old as time.

The Mariners captured my heart from a young age, with Ichiro and King Felix serving as my heroes on otherwise putrid teams that consistently deposited triple digits into the loss column.

Stories from my parents about exhilarating playoff games in the heralded 1995 season still left me with hope. One day, playoff baseball would return to Seattle, and it would be well worth the wait. But as my adolescence crept towards adulthood, that hope never came to fruition.

They certainly weren’t void of expectations. Who could forget Sports Illustrated’s infamous 2015 forecast of a Mariners-Nationals World Series?

But in a distressingly recurring theme, the Mariners continued to fall short. In 2018, the Mariners relinquished an eight game lead in the wild card standings. Most recently, the 2021 Mariners yet again finished brutally close to the finish line with a 90-win campaign ultimately prolonging the frustration.

Under any reasonable circumstance, two decades of a gut-wrenching, emotionally draining relationship would lead to an ugly, messy breakup.

And through several months of the 2022 season, the situation yet again looked bleak. Despite the preseason buzz around the club, the Mariners stood at a paltry 29-39 record on June 19. Jerry Dipoto and upper management faced a renowned scrutiny, Scott Sevais’ seat was reaching scalding temperatures, and it appeared the postseason drought was going to reach the legal drinking age by seasons’ end.

But just when I began to yet again question my toxic relationship with an assuredly-cursed franchise, they showed up at the doorstep with flowers and a box of chocolates, pleading the fandom for another chance and assuring that this time, it would be different.

And entering the All-Star break with a blistering 14 straight wins, this time certainly feels different.

I’ve seen many hot streaks from the Mariners in my lifetime. Most, if not all, have been smoke and mirrors, an unrealistic representation of the season at-large. Just ask the 2019 Mariners, who won 13 of their first 15 games before sputtering to a meager 68 total wins.

But the 2022 Mariners have presented all the signs of a postseason qualifying-scratch that-championship contending baseball team.

For one, the Mariners’ run-differential, a metric that they were able to defy in 2021, is ranked ninth in the MLB. Seattle is scoring more than they are allowing, an indication that this model is sustainable. Maybe not winning every single game is sustainable, but it’s a winning formula nonetheless.

The Mariners are playing top-tier baseball without two of their superstars, Mitch Haniger and Kyle Lewis, who are primed to make their return.

The pitching staff has posted a 3.53 ERA, the fifth best in the MLB, and only continues to get better with Robbie Ray regaining his CY Young form, and with the young Logan Gilbert continuing to cement himself as an ace.

More than anything, the Mariners have the indescribable “it” factor that can’t be quantified. It’s the kind of magical aura that propelled the ‘95 Mariners through their mystifying run. That special swag and charisma starts with a kid just one year older than the playoff drought itself, Julio Rodriguez, who has taken the baseball world by storm.

Rodriguez, while patrolling center field like Griffey and donning the number 44 like Aaron, has become the figurehead for the dawn of Mariners baseball, with a .275 average, 16 home runs, and 21 steals.

They won’t win every game, but this iteration of the Mariners has proved they are worthy of the city’s undying fidelity.

The Mariners have yet again become the pulse of Seattle, gaining traction in the city among die-hards and casuals alike, resting on the tip of the tongue of everyone within a 50-mile radius of T Mobile Park.

As the Mariners continue to dominate office water cooler discussion, they have burst onto the national scene as well, with baseball fans and pundits across the Country taking note of the remarkable streak occurring in the Emerald City.

Maybe, just maybe, this could be the atmosphere of ‘95 that older Mariners fans have lauded time and time again.

I’m willing to open my heart to the 2022 Seattle Mariners. Are you?