Jim Moore: I was wrong about the Mariners, and tears from my sons remind me what matters

On May 23rd, after the Mariners were swept in a four-game series by the Red Sox to fall to 17-25, I wrote that their season was over and said we all wanted a new car, but this team was just another lemon.

Then on June 19th, after they lost four of five to the Angels to fall to 29-39, I was with those who thought general manager Jerry Dipoto and manager Scott Servais should be fired.

I thereby doubled down on being wrong about the Mariners, who clinched a wild-card berth Friday night at T-Mobile Park, ending a 21-year playoff drought. Regardless of how they do in the playoffs, the 2022 season will be considered a rousing success.

As it happened, I didn’t fully grasp the significance of the moment when Cal Raleigh hit the walkoff homer in the ninth to beat the A’s 2-1. As a longtime sportswriter who became detached from being a full-time fan, I lost sight of what this meant to so many.

Then came the reports of tears on Twitter. And more tears. Even more tears. But those were on social media. And then my phone rang.

“Dad, I can’t believe it, they finally did it, all those years of watching crappy teams, I never thought I’d see them in the playoffs,” said Mikey, one of my 18-year-old sons. I could barely make out what he was saying because he was bawling more than talking.

His twin brother, Stevie, was crying too. I didn’t realize how invested they were in this team when we went to games over the course of their childhood. All those years, all those losses, suddenly forgotten and forgiven, replaced by popping champagne corks and views of millionaires who looked like little boys again, celebrating with each other in the clubhouse and on the field with their fans.

“It felt like watching my kid graduate from college and get married on the same day,” said one guy on Twitter, pretty much capturing the feelings from baseball fans around the Northwest.

There’s something about those down years that makes an up year more special. If you’re a Yankees’ fan, you’re not tearing up if they clinch a wild-card spot, you’re thinking it’s a consolation prize, wondering why they didn’t win their division.

This breakthrough by the Mariners doesn’t seem like a random swish from halfcourt; it feels more like a positive sign for the playoffs and years to come.

With their starters and relievers, all of whom are supremely talented and young or in their prime, the Mariners figure to have a sustainable pitching foundation. The lineup remains hit and miss - mostly miss - but it doesn’t have to be an offensive juggernaut to make noise in the playoffs because of the strength of their pitching staff.

There’s just enough pop and pitching to think that the Mariners won’t just be eliminated in the first round. They can defeat Toronto, Cleveland or Tampa Bay in a three-game series. The Mariners beat the Blue Jays and Guardians in their season series and lost to the Rays, but if they get the home-field advantage, I like Seattle’s chances of advancing because Tampa Bay has a losing record on the road this year.

Then if they played the Yankees or Astros in the next round, wouldn’t you give them a puncher’s chance in a five-game series with their pitching? Yeah, I would too.

The Mariners will be underdogs in every series. But if I’m them, I’m shifting into what-do-we-have-to-lose mode, no one expects anything from us anyway, which should favor loose over tight even for first-timers to the postseason.

In the next week we’ll get to talk about things we never talk about this time of year - whether the Mariners can earn the first wild-card spot and host playoff games in the first round and short of that, who should they start in the first three games. Would you go with Luis Castillo, Robbie Ray and George Kirby? Or Castillo, Kirby and Logan Gilbert?

And who’s the team’s MVP? Julio Rodriguez? Eugenio Suarez? Heck, I’d maybe vote for Tom Murphy, whose season-ending injury allowed Cal Raleigh to blossom into one of the best catchers in the league and turned him into a legend Friday night.

All fun stuff to debate over beers while I eat some crow and wipe the egg off my face so I can see how it all unfolds the rest of the way.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on 950 KJR-AM, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.

This story was originally published October 1, 2022 at 11:08 AM.