FanPost Friday: The Seattle Mariners are “going to end this f*cking drought” edition

Sep 30, 2022 - 6:37 PM

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Hello and welcome back to FanPost Friday, folks! And what a Friday it is. With a win tonight, the Seattle Mariners will clinch a playoff spot for the first time in 21 years. If the Orioles lose to the Yankees tonight—and we should know the result a few innings into the Mariners game tonight—the Mariners will be in whether they win or lose, so expect either a rising, spontaneous celebration around the ballpark and maybe the city around 8 PM or so, or some shrugs and renewed focus on winning the game at-hand.

I can’t believe I just typed all that, honestly. I’ve been an emotional wreck already this morning, the last few days, and really this whole last month as I’ve very slowly let myself get fully excited and start to accept reality. This team, in spite of itself at times, is going to make the playoffs for the first time since I was a senior in high school.

I’ve talked about this before, but we fans mark the passing of time by baseball seasons. Ah yes, Cassie was pregnant with our first kid when we saw Nelson Cruz tie it up with a home run in game 161 in 2016. Ah yes, Félix Hernández threw a perfect game the day I went to pick up Cassie’s engagement ring. Ah yes, I was in the Pit at Northwood Elementary School in Edgewood in September 1995 watching the “EVERYBODY SCORES” moment versus the Angels on a TV on a cart with 100 other grade school kids losing their minds. These moments stick with us, we remember where we’re at and who we’re with. We remember strangers we celebrated with. We remember those who are no longer with us. We desperately want them to be there with us to enjoy these moments. We mark time and time leaves its mark on us.

Time has been hard on Mitch Haniger, who has battled through injury after injury in his MLB career to be here today. Mitch tried to will the team into the playoffs himself last September, refusing to lose game 161, but ultimately falling short of the playoffs. He penned (or more likely dictated) a Player’s Tribune post a few weeks later and emphatically declared that next time the Mariners got that close, it would be different.

11 months later, here we are.

Mitch, after being on the IL for over 90 days himself this season, hasn’t exactly been himself at the plate since returning. But, last night that “put the whole team on your back,” September 2021 Mitch Haniger came roaring back to life and he brought September 2021 Jarred Kelenic with him. This was not a do-or-die game, yet the Mariners battled hard in extras after blowing the lead in the 7th and 8th innings. They kept pace with the Rangers through the 11th inning when J.P. Crawford, another player deeply committed to ending this drought, took his moment to be a hero and pushed this team to the very brink of clinching a playoff spot. Sure, they don’t have to keep winning games to make the playoffs at this point, but it certainly feels more fun when they do, right?

I joined the LL staff during Spring Training in 2017 and I started writing this regular FanPost Friday feature in March of 2018 and only in some unchecked moments of my imagination running wild did I ever think I’d be writing a post on a day like today, on a baseball site that has meant more to me than I can put into words since I fatefully stumbled upon it in 2009. We’re here, folks. For many, it’s the first time. For others, last time is a memory so distant it may as well have been from another life. So, if I can give one piece of advice to everyone it’s just to do your best to be present for this. Breathe it in. Don’t over-think it. As Mariners fans, obviously we have found other things to hang our fandom on, but this moment right here is something extra special that most of us haven’t even entertained as possible for many, many years. Let it wash over you.

My simple, earnest prompt for y’all this week:

What’s something you wish you still had in your life from 2001?

For folks who don’t remember or weren’t born yet, what’s a piece of pop culture from the early 2000’s that you’re very nostalgic for even though it was slightly before your time?

Share your answers in the comments!

Oh and finally, the vibe check from last week was, despite the team’s recent stretch of poor play, overwhelmingly positive:

The “Yes” votes are a full 9% higher than the previous vibe check poll from July 29. Here we are.

Be safe, live it up, and go Mariners.