From heartbreak to hope: the Mariners’ new era has arrived

Years of heartbreak and rebuilding have led to a season that reminded fans what belief in baseball feels like.  

By J.A. Aleman

Watching the Seattle Mariners (Ms) has not been easy for the last two decades as any real baseball fan will understand. 

I’ve been watching Mariners baseball for the last decade or more of my life and the disappointment has been heavy. It’s not because the team hasn’t had any talent over the years, but because there seemed to always be some spark missing. 

After years of what seemed like torture, I stopped watching consistently but always kept up here and there. However, in 2021 something shifted inside me, and I started to believe again. 

The team has gone through a bunch of different slogans, but the organization revealed one in a commercial called the Sea Us Rise campaign. That called me and brought me back and since then, the Mariners have improved every year.    

On Sept. 30, 2022, a walk-off home run, hit off the foul pole by Mariners Catcher Cal Raleigh, ended the drought in Seattle sports and the team was able to breakthrough into the postseason for the first time in 21 years. The moment was exciting, historic and unforgettable. 

“It’s pretty cool because I know it’s been twenty plus years,” said UWT student Ryan Coffey. “That’s why I’m going to get behind them, especially as a Red Sox fan. They went through an eighty plus years drought.” 

The excitement would carry the Mariners through the wildcard match up where they would sweep the Toronto Blue Jays 2-0. However, longtime division rival, the Houston Astros, were waiting and took the broom and swept us to move on, and that momentum carried them all the way through the playoffs to win the World Series that year. 

After that, the team was able to compete for the wild card spot, but we didn’t make it to the 2023 or 2024 postseason. The story of the drought had come back to loom over Mariners baseball once again. 

The 2024-2025 season felt like an up and down roller coaster. The Astros seemed to be doing their normal thing by sitting on top of the division in first place and the Ms sitting 7 games back in early July with a record of 48-45. 

What was astonishing was the way the Ms finished this season because since mid-July they went 41-24 and won the division for the first time since 2001 and even swept the Astros in the process. 

This was a team effort no doubt, but everyone watching closely knows it was Raleigh who was the heart of the magic this season. He led the league with 60 home runs and was a pillar for the team on defense. He broke the single season home run record for the franchise, homeruns by a catcher and even hall of famer Mickey Mantle’s record for home runs for a switch hitter. 

“I’m speechless,” said Raleigh, in an interview after winning the division. “This is what we’ve been working so hard for and we know what this city is dying for.” 

When asked about his record-breaking season he added, “It was pretty cool to put your name among some of the greatest to ever play. I don’t know what to say. I love my team, I love my city, I love my parents. You know, might as well win the whole f****** thing.” 

That sentiment is what all Mariners’ fans are feeling, and the drama was about to begin as the Ms would face the Detroit Tigers in the first match-up of the postseason. 

The Tigers took the Mariners to a decisive game 5 that lasted 15 innings, and the Ms were able to pull it off with a walk-off single by shortstop Jorge Polanco.   

“The 15-inning game was exhilarating and exhausting,” said Dr. Danica Miller, Associate Professor at UWT. “Afterwards, to be in a space where over 45,000 were experiencing unbridled joy was unlike anything I’ve ever been a part of. It was possibly the most fun I ever had. And then I went straight to bed.” 

I was in Seattle when the game ended. The streets were loud, overpacked and no one wanted to leave. This was another step towards the World Series, which is something the Mariners franchise has never been able to reach. 

“Dodgers will be an issue, we did get swept by them at home,” said UWT student David Thacker. 

In the very last series of the season, the 2024-2025 season champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, made easy work of the Seattle ball club, and at the time I still had hope because we had my pick for MVP, Cal Raleigh. 

I wasn’t the only one who thought Raleigh should win MVP this year. 

Thaker added, “Cal all the way because he made so many notable records.” 

“Cal Raliegh should be unanimous MVP,” said UWT student Gavin Duong. “Mariners are gonna win and then I’m going to get a championship hat.” 

All Seattle fans including myself were rooting for the championship but unfortunately the Toronto Blue Jays took us to game 7 in the ALCS round and won the game off a 3-run homerun by right fielder George Springer. 

“Obviously it hurts,” said Mariners center fielder, Julio Rodriguez, when asked about the loss. “We put so much work and effort throughout this whole year, and you know it’s over but that’s also part of the game too.” 

I say that being competitive and making a deep run through the playoffs every year is the better way forward instead of a one and done winning season. 

“Seattle Mariners have nothing to hang their head about,” said analyst Dereck Jeeter. “They had an unbelievable season. You feel bad for them. You feel bad for the fan base right? Because they were so close. But this team will be back.” 

That’s the confidence I have now in the Ms. They have never been this deep in the playoffs and now they are battle tested and have a chip on their shoulder which will motivate them for next season.