There’s never been a catcher who has had the year that Cal Raleigh did in 2025.
The Seattle Mariners‘ budding superstar catcher hit his 59th and 60th home runs Wednesday in their 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies — where Seattle also wrapped up its first division title in 24 years.
After launching a deep first-inning home run for No. 59, that put the Mariners on the board, Raleigh smoked a first-pitch fastball 389 feet over the right-field wall to become the fourth player in American League history with 60 home runs — and the first catcher and non-member of the New York Yankees.
Raleigh is just the eighth player in major-league history — Aaron Judge (2022), Barry Bonds (2001), Sammy Sosa (1998, 1999, 2001), Mark McGwire (1998, 1999), Roger Maris (1961) and Babe Ruth (1927) — to hit 60 home runs in a single season.
Raleigh now trails Judge’s AL record of 62 by just two home runs with four games left to play.
The Summer Of Cal Raleigh Continues
Mariners fans, even the Mariner Moose, have been donning faux mustaches for months to resemble the ‘stache that Raleigh has been sporting all season to commemorate one of the greatest years from any player in Seattle sports history.
Raleigh, the unassuming 6-2, 235-pound switch-hitting catcher from North Carolina affectionately referred to as “Big Dumper,” continued his year for the ages. He launched a 438-foot moonshot into the upper deck at T-Mobile Park — a place few dare to go — to put the Mariners up 1-0 for the first of three first-inning homers.
Then, with the crowd in Seattle chanting “M-V-P” he ripped his second no-doubter of the night, sending the capacity crowd of 42,883 into delirium and left him speechless.
“I don’t know what to say,” Raleigh said after the game. “I’m just so happy. I love this team. I love this city. I love my parents. I’m so happy for our guys.”
His 60-home run campaign caps his Home Run Derby win in Atlanta in July and how he staved off pressure and avoided significant injury — no small feat as a catcher who set a career high by playing 155 games. — to reach the milestone.
Mariners ‘Have A Lot More Fun Baseball Ahead’
A night after champagne spraying for their first playoff appearance since 2022, the Mariners turned back the clock even further with their win Wednesday.
The M’s clinched just the fourth division title in franchise history, and the first since 2001, unseating the dynastic Houston Astros with a memorable season-closing stretch. Seattle trailed the Astros by four games Sept. 3 yet is 16-1 in its past 17 games — harkening memories to the legendary “Refuse to Lose” Mariners of 1995.
Yet, unlike the subdued celebration of 2001 — the Mariners won 116 games that year yet toned down their exuberance after clinching the division title in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 — the Mariners cut loose Wednesday.
“This is what we’ve been working so hard for and what this city has been dying for,” Raleigh said. “We’re so glad [the fans] were here to see it.”
Yet, few could have felt better than manager Dan Wilson. Wilson was an oft-forgotten member of the mid-1990s and early-2000s Mariners — who has played 30 of the franchise’s 39 postseason games — who was hired midyear in 2024 to create a new glory era of Seattle baseball.
“What an incredible group. They’ve fought hard the entire season,” Wilson said “The credit goes to these guys. They fought hard. They fought strong, and we’ve got a lot more fun baseball ahead of us, so stay with us.”
That was the reminder that Raleigh offered Tuesday and reiterated Wednesday to fan base that has never seen their team in a World Series game, while borrowing a line from the legendary baseball movie “Major League.”
“Might as well win the whole f—ing thing,” Raleigh said.