What if I told you your loyalty would be tested for nearly a quarter century? That every spring you’d suit up your hope, only to watch it unravel by summer? That the team you live and bleed for would whiff on the playoffs in 24 straight seasons and be left out like a rain-soaked newspaper on a Seattle porch?
Would you still cheer?
This is the reality for Seattle Mariners fans. Not fair-weather fans. Not bandwagoners. These are the diehards who’ve weathered heartbreak like it’s a sport of its own.
This isn’t just fandom. It’s devotion. It’s grit. It’s believing in a miracle even when the math says otherwise.
And now? The tide’s turning. The dream is alive. And every one of those 24 seasons makes this moment taste even sweeter.
Prior to their Game 5 win in the ALCS, the Seattle Mariners had seemingly been the farm team for many teams throughout Major League Baseball. Dating way back to Alvin Davis and later Mark Langston, every time a player for the M’s had a decent season, they’d soon be on a championship team, and the Mariners would routinely miss the playoffs, year after year.
As a Seattle native, going to the Kingdome to watch the M’s, we rarely, if ever, left the stadium celebrating a win for the hometown squad. You see, it was 15 years after being introduced to the majors that the Mariners would have a winning season. During that time, the M’s had a cumulative record of 768 wins and 1,104 losses, resulting in a 41.03% winning percentage.
This historic futility allowed them to repeatedly draft players early in the MLB draft. After selecting over 1,000 draft picks, the Mariners couldn’t get it right. Whether it was the natural expansion woes, the constant front office turnover, or the drafting of numerous draft busts like Mike Moore (1981) and Dave Burba (1987), they stumbled over themselves for years.
At some point, they had to get it right, and the Mariners gradually began to correct their processes. Case in point, in the third round of the 1982 draft, they drafted a quiet bat from Puerto Rico in Edgar Martínez (DH). Years later, with the first pick of the 1987 MLB draft, they selected Ken Griffey Jr. (CF), the son of an MLB champion with the legendary Cincinnati Reds, who would electrify the fanbase and legitimize this struggling franchise. The M’s then acquired Tino Martinez (1B) with the 14th pick of the 1988 draft. Martinez would go on to earn an MLB All-Star appearance while wearing the Mariners uniform.
Though the turnaround clearly wasn’t immediate, they finally had a core group of guys to build around. A trade that had much of New York bewildered was in 1988, when the M’s sent Ken Phelps (DH) to the Yankees for Jay Buhner (OF), Rich Balabon (P), and a player to be named later (Troy Evers, RHP). Buhner went on to hit 310 home runs for Seattle and became a fan favorite for his grit, power, and leadership.
With Mark Langston nearing free agency, though still very good, the M’s showed some foresight by sending their top pitcher to the Montreal Expos for (RHP) Gene Harris, (RHP) Brian Holman, and little-known (LHP) Randy Johnson in 1989. The raw but talented Johnson slowly evolved into a Hall of Fame pitcher, winning a Cy Young award with Seattle in 1995 and becoming one of the most frightening left-handers to face in MLB history.
The Mariners would add young phenom Álex Rodríguez to this core group, with yet another number one draft pick in the 1993 MLB draft. Fortunately, they found themselves on the better side of a couple of trades that transformed the M’s from perennial losers to a competitive squad for the first time in the team’s history.
In March of 1994, the Mariners sent Erik Hanson (RHP) and Bobby Ayala (RHP) to the Cincinnati Reds for Dan Wilson (C) and Bret Boone (2B). Wilson would go on to catch more games than any player in franchise history (1,281). He would also earn an All-Star nod in 1996 and later be named to the Mariners Hall of Fame team, and later become the manager of the M’s.
Sending Warren Newson (OF) to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for infielder Joey Cora in 1995 was another quiet trade which solidified that M’s 1995 squad. Cora’s switch-hitting versatility and scrappy play made him a fan favorite. He’d go on to earn his only MLB All-Star birth in 1997, as a member of the Mariners.
The 1995 Mariners finished with a 79-66 record, which would be only the third time in franchise history they’d finish with a winning record. More importantly, the team is credited for saving baseball in Seattle as they would reach the MLB playoffs for the first time in franchise history and beat the hated Yankees. Many Mariners fans can still envision Edgar Martinez ripping a double into left field and Ken Griffey Jr. scoring from first base to win that series and advance to the American League Championship Series.
Since then, the Mariners have unveiled one of the nicest stadiums in the majors and hosted a couple of MLB All-Star games. They also would reach the postseason in three of the next six seasons, though Mariners fans would endure more heartache when the M’s won an MLB record 116 games in the 2001 regular season. Only to be knocked out of the playoffs in the American League Championship Series by the New York Yankees.
Even with eventual Hall of Famers Ichiro Suzuki and Griffey Jr, the M’s would sadly return to their futile ways, as it would be another 24 years before they would win another MLB playoff game. However, this 2025 season has, once again, tickled the fancy of baseball fans in the Northwest.
No Mariner since Hall of Famer Griffey Jr. has hit more than 56 home runs. This season, Mariner’s catcher and 2018 third-round draft pick out of Florida State University, Cal Raleigh, hit 60 home runs in the regular season. Raleigh’s breakout season not only set a franchise record in home runs but also set a new record for catchers and switch-hitters across MLB.
The Mariners, uncharacteristically, buying vs selling at the trade deadline this year was invigorating for fans. Acquiring Josh Naylor (1B) from and Eugenio Suárez (3B) from the Arizona Diamondbacks in separate deals, a week apart, would pay dividends for the M’s. As both Naylor and Suárez have been critical to the Mariners’ playoff run this postseason with their clutch hitting.
“The fact that they even bought and went after the two guys we really needed—and the fact that our ownership listened to the crowd, listened to the fans, and went out and did this—100%,” said long-time Mariner’s fan Robert from Ballard. “That’s why we are where we are. Naylor—sign him next year. Eugenio—get him for cheap. Sign him next year.”
Caught up in the excitement of the Mariners’ 2025 playoff run, I was eager to hear from some real Mariners fans about what this playoff run means to them. So, prior to Game four of the ALCS, I went down to T-Mobile before game time to collect the thoughts of Mariners fans and their live account for what they are seeing from the only professional team (other than the NHL’s Kraken) in the city not to have played for a Championship.
“I’ve been a Mariner fan since I grew up here. I’ve always gone to Mariners games and loved them so much. For them to finally put a team together that could get to this point, to go to the deadline and trade for the pieces that got them here — it’s exciting and cool,” Carter from Maple Valley said. “We’re playing baseball in October, man. First time I’ve ever been able to go to playoff games at home. I was at game five against the Tigers — that was so exciting.”
“Absolutely. We missed last year by a game, missed the year before that by a game,” Chris from Tacoma shared. “This is our year. It’s going to happen; all the way. We’re going to win the whole thing.”
“It’s hard to even believe, to be honest with you. It’s been years and years of heartbreak. I’m just excited to see them go this far,” said Kevin from Bitterlake. “Pitching’s got to show up and we’ve got to get the bats going.”
“I’m getting texts from family and friends across the country right now. It’s an amazing moment. So exciting,” said Jeff from West Seattle. “It’s been a long time. A long, rough couple of years. And by “couple,” I mean 24 years.”
“This is a dream. This is more than a dream. This is history,” Robert from Ballard said. “This is the furthest we’ve ever gotten. We’ve never won more than two games in the LCS. So technically, this is the furthest we’ve ever gotten. This is a dream come true—just two games away from the World Series.”
“We’re just going to lose our minds. Party in the streets, man,” Derrin from Oregon said. “We’re going to be shot-gunning a lot of beer.”
Bringing us to today, the Mariners are now one win away from playing in the Major League Baseball World Series championship. It goes without saying that this is uncharted waters for the Mariners, but they have two games to win one and stamp their ticket to play in the World Series Championship, which would be unbelievable!
