SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh’s eyes lit up like he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. ‘MVP’ chants from a near-sellout crowd echoed throughout T-Mobile Park as the driver of Seattle’s storybook season delivered another historic swing — Home Run No. 60.
Colorado Rockies reliever Angel Chivilli offered a well-placed fastball on the lower edge, but Raleigh dropped the barrel on a 389-foot blast to right field, admitting him into the American League’s 60-homer club with all-time greats: Babe Ruth, Roger Maris, and Aaron Judge.
A curtain call was obvious. A crowd of 42,883 never left their feet. Seattle’s all-world catcher lifted the trident like he has so many times before, and Seattle is celebrating like it’s 2001.
Raleigh’s two-homer game powered a 9-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night, sealing the Mariners’ first American League West title in 24 years.
One night after clinching an AL postseason berth, the Mariners are popping champagne once again.
Raleigh demolished No. 59 with a gargantuan blast to T-Mobile’s right-field upper deck in the first inning, somewhere few men have gone before. He attacked Rockies right-hander Tanner Gordon’s third pitch of the at-bat, a 93-mph fastball mistakenly left over the middle. Raleigh did the rest, measured at 438 feet.
Mariners starter Luis Castillo was exceptional on a night Seattle sealed their division title, retiring the game’s first 11 batters and striking out a season-high 10 across 7.1 innings. He allowed just one hit, a fourth-inning solo home run to Blake Crim, without a walk.
After his 3-for-5 night with four RBI, Raleigh joined ROOT Sports on the dugout steps as MVP chants continued, loud enough for ‘Big Dumper’ to soak in a moment he’ll never forget.
“I’m speechless,” he said, scanning the crowd that remained for a postgame celebration on the infield. The Mariners gathered for photos, hugs with family members, and took turns delivering speeches.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m just so happy. I love this team. I love this city. I love my parents. Thank you for being here,” Raleigh continued. “I’m so happy for our guys. We’re going to celebrate tonight.
“And like I said, we’re not done yet.”
Seattle waited for this moment for nearly a quarter of a century.
The clock started its merciless ticking in 2001, when the Mariners captured their last American League West title with a modern-record 116 wins. The great Ichiro Suzuki was a 27-year-old rookie who took the league by storm, smacking 242 hits and stealing 56 bases for the best team in baseball. Iconic Mariners pitcher Felix Hernandez wouldn’t make his major-league debut for nearly four more years, and current Mariners center fielder Julio Rodriguez was just nine months old.
A fanbase starving for a winner could have lost faith, perpetually left behind by a franchise that never cleared this critical hurdle. Seattle appeared in one postseason throughout its AL West woes, clinching a 2022 AL Wild Card berth with Raleigh’s famous walk-off home run against the Oakland Athletics into the late-September night. ‘Believe’ signs and ‘Good Vibes Only’ spearheaded Seattle’s run to the American League Division Series before a storybook rally ran out of gas, falling to the rival Houston Astros in backbreaking, hope-crushing fashion.
The WNBA’s Seattle Storm won four championships since the Mariners last captured their division. MLS power Seattle Sounders FC won two MLS Cups (2016, 2019) and the CONCACAF Champions League crown in 2022, and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII.
Following their 10-game September win streak and Raleigh’s record-breaking season, time has stopped. The divisional banners suspended above then-named Safeco Field’s right field upper deck will finally welcome a new neighbor. A fanbase often loyal beyond reason can ‘Believe’ once again.
“You guys have been there every step of the way,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson told Seattle. “Thank you for turning T-Mobile into one of the loudest ballparks in this league.
“We’ve got to thank ownership, the front office for doing some incredible stuff at the trade deadline to get us all of the pieces we needed. And here we are on the field ready to go.
“But 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.”