Tim Barto: Seattle Mariners, two wins away from World Series

Back in 2002, I was attending a military conference with representatives from all over the country. We were instructed to write our organizations on name placards and face them outwards so everyone else in the room could see who we represented. A guy sitting next to me was from the Puget Sound area and happened to be a fellow baseball fan, so we struck up a conversation about how the Mariners, who won a record-setting 116 games in 2001, somehow failed to make it to the World Series. 

My new friend was visibly confused, trying to make out a placard across the room on which the penmanship was a bit difficult to read. He leaned over to me and asked, “What does that placard over there say?”

It says, “Seattle Marines,” I replied, indicating it was a contingent representing the Marine Corps Reserve from that area.

“Ahh,” he nodded pensively. “I thought it said Seattle Mariners, but those guys don’t look like ballplayers” he continued, somewhat seriously. “I thought I’d figured out why we couldn’t  win the damn pennant.”

It made me laugh hard enough that he realized he had a winning line there, and he used it several times, including to the Seattle Marines themselves, who found it humorous but not quite as funny as I.

Well, long-suffering Mariners fans are now as close to the elusive World Series as they have ever been. The only franchise – the ONLY Major League franchise – to never appear in a World Series are two wins away from the promised land.

The Mariners took the first two games of the best-of-seven American League Championship Series, so they have five chances to win two games and claim the pennant. Those first two games they won were in Toronto, as the Blue Jays have home field advantage throughout the postseason, thanks to posting the best record in the league. 

But now, the next three games are schedule to be played in Seattle and – it merits repetition – the Mariners only need to win two to move on. 

The M’s won game one by a score of three to one, and the second game by a margin of ten to three. They’ve outscored the favored Blue Jays 13 to four, and outhit them 17 to eight. 

Catcher Cal Raleigh led the team offensively in 2025, and carried them through the early part of the postseason, but now the rest of the team is finding their bats, which takes pressure off Raleigh so when he has an off night (as he did Monday, although he did draw two walks and score two runs), the team can still produce runs and win. 

Infielder Jorge Polanco has been particularly clutch for Seattle lately. A switch hitter like Raleigh, Polanco has been driving in runs when his team needs it most, bringing around the go-ahead run in the past three games. 

Offensive output is always nice to have, but when it comes to winning baseball games, especially in the postseason, the keys are pitching, pitching, and pitching; and the Mariners’ pitching staff, particularly their bullpen, has been outstanding. The relief corps has given up only one run in their past 19 innings, and have held Toronto to a .098 batting average, which is absurdly miniscule, especially since the Blue Jays’ offense beat up the New York Yankees in the Division Series. 

The Mariners – Alaska’s home team by geography – continue their quest for their first ever World Series appearance on Wednesday at 4 pm Alaska time, when an energetic and expectedly loud Seattle crowd will welcome them home. 

Tim Barto is a lifelong baseball addict who is in the midst of a relapse. He and Suzanne like to talk baseball on occasion.