What's happened the last two days in Seattle is honestly one of my favorite sports narratives when it plays out, and one that most fans will never understand (present readership not included).
The Mariners won 14 games in a row, which is awesome. 14 regular season games. That goes a long way towards getting them into the playoffs, which is what 90% of the team's in the majors aspire to do yearly.
The other 10% don't give a flying **** about wins in the regular season. They know the regular season is one long extended practice for the playoffs, where if you can win just slightly more than you lose, you'll get to the World Series with a chance to win the ring. The Astros, Dodgers, Rays, Sox, Braves, those types of teams know that the only mission in the regular season is to win enough to get in, and get your guys ready for the gauntlet known as the playoffs.
When fan bases don't have a consistent winner, they don't know what that feels like. To expect the playoffs. It's one of the reasons we're so lucky that the Astros have been so good for so long. The Mariners have their fans in a frenzy for this weekend's series. There are sell outs and rows of extra media and national buzz and here come those damn Astros, the cheaters that they are, and they're older now and they lost Correa and this is OUR YEAR, DAMN IT.
Seattle was 34-41 on June 27 after they lost to Baltimore and were 12.5 games out of first. They won 17 of their next 18 games to get to 51-42 and were able to make up just 3.5 games in the standings. The crowds got bigger and bigger during the streak. They only had 16,024 back on June 28 when they beat Baltimore. They put 41,100 in the seats 10 days later for Toronto, and 45,290 for the Friday night game for the Astros.
And then there it was, the flashbulbs blinking and the fans roaring and it was time to show those stupid Texans what Mariner baseball is all about, and then 3 pitches in, you're losing 1-0 and the wind just rushed out of the whole damn stadium.
All those clutch hits and big stops you were getting against Baltimore, Washington, Oakland, and Texas seemed to scatter to the four wins. Your stud Marco Gonzales decides to challenge big Yordan Alvarez in his first start back from injury and it's 2-0. Then their damn catcher with his terrible average hits another home run, and before you know it, your streak is done, it's 5-2, and you wonder what the hell happened to all that momentum.
You know you'll get it back the next day, because old man Verlander can't stay young forever. Except then he's hitting 99 on the gun late in the game, and systematically destroying your lineup, and you hold them to 3 runs sure but that's all they need, and now you've lost twice in a row, and the lead is back to 11. You've gone 17-3 in your last 20 and you've made up 1.5 games in the the standings.
Maybe you win tomorrow, maybe the Astros sweep. They're looking ahead to October and testing guys on a nightly basis to see who will be ready when the spotlight shines brightest. Because that's when the big games happen. Not on July 24th.
The Mariners won 14 games in a row, which is awesome. 14 regular season games. That goes a long way towards getting them into the playoffs, which is what 90% of the team's in the majors aspire to do yearly.
The other 10% don't give a flying **** about wins in the regular season. They know the regular season is one long extended practice for the playoffs, where if you can win just slightly more than you lose, you'll get to the World Series with a chance to win the ring. The Astros, Dodgers, Rays, Sox, Braves, those types of teams know that the only mission in the regular season is to win enough to get in, and get your guys ready for the gauntlet known as the playoffs.
When fan bases don't have a consistent winner, they don't know what that feels like. To expect the playoffs. It's one of the reasons we're so lucky that the Astros have been so good for so long. The Mariners have their fans in a frenzy for this weekend's series. There are sell outs and rows of extra media and national buzz and here come those damn Astros, the cheaters that they are, and they're older now and they lost Correa and this is OUR YEAR, DAMN IT.
Seattle was 34-41 on June 27 after they lost to Baltimore and were 12.5 games out of first. They won 17 of their next 18 games to get to 51-42 and were able to make up just 3.5 games in the standings. The crowds got bigger and bigger during the streak. They only had 16,024 back on June 28 when they beat Baltimore. They put 41,100 in the seats 10 days later for Toronto, and 45,290 for the Friday night game for the Astros.
And then there it was, the flashbulbs blinking and the fans roaring and it was time to show those stupid Texans what Mariner baseball is all about, and then 3 pitches in, you're losing 1-0 and the wind just rushed out of the whole damn stadium.
All those clutch hits and big stops you were getting against Baltimore, Washington, Oakland, and Texas seemed to scatter to the four wins. Your stud Marco Gonzales decides to challenge big Yordan Alvarez in his first start back from injury and it's 2-0. Then their damn catcher with his terrible average hits another home run, and before you know it, your streak is done, it's 5-2, and you wonder what the hell happened to all that momentum.
You know you'll get it back the next day, because old man Verlander can't stay young forever. Except then he's hitting 99 on the gun late in the game, and systematically destroying your lineup, and you hold them to 3 runs sure but that's all they need, and now you've lost twice in a row, and the lead is back to 11. You've gone 17-3 in your last 20 and you've made up 1.5 games in the the standings.
Maybe you win tomorrow, maybe the Astros sweep. They're looking ahead to October and testing guys on a nightly basis to see who will be ready when the spotlight shines brightest. Because that's when the big games happen. Not on July 24th.
Life is better with a beagle
