Copyright Anchorage Daily News
SEATTLE – The record says George Springer hit the ball with an exit velocity of 99.1 mph into the left-field bleachers at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Seattleites will tell you it went 300 mph into their hearts. Viewers from the rest of the world saw Springer use a bat to hit one of the most dramatic home runs in MLB history. Seattleites will tell you he used a stake. There were only two emotions possible for folks around these parts when Game 7 of the American League Championship Series concluded: complete euphoria or total despair. Unfortunately, they got smacked with the latter. There have been plenty of painful moments in the history of Seattle sports, but I’m not sure any — any — cut as deep as the Mariners’ 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays on Monday night. Some might counter with Super Bowl XLIX, when Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler intercepted quarterback Russell Wilson’s pass in the end zone to steal a title from the Seahawks. The thing is, though, the Seahawks had already won a Super Bowl. That doesn’t mean the denial of a repeat hasn’t haunted fans for the past decade. But at least they have one Lombardi Trophy to admire. The Mariners, meanwhile, remain the only team in MLB history to have not reached the World Series. For the 49th consecutive season, they managed to fall short of the Fall Classic. And though there were countless highs throughout the regular season and playoffs, nobody is celebrating that the M’s had their greatest postseason in franchise history. No, they freakin’ had this thing … and they let it get away. The series with Toronto began two nights after the Mariners had defeated Detroit in a 15-inning, deciding Game 5 of the ALDS. It was equal parts ecstasy and exhaustion for the players, who most counted out in Game 1 vs. the Jays. After all, their pitching was depleted and their opponents were as fresh as a spring maple leaf. Didn’t matter. Seattle shocked the Blue Jays with a 3-1 win in Toronto thanks to Bryce Miller’s pitching gem along with Cal Raleigh’s and Jorge Polanco’s hitting heroics. One day later, the Mariners beat Toronto 8-2 at Rogers Centre to go up 2-0 in the series. I’m not sure T-Mobile Park had ever been so collectively jacked when the Mariners returned home for Game 3 — an energy that was amplified when Seattle went up 2-0 in the first inning. But the Blue Jays went on to win that game 13-4 and then Game 4 8-2. It was the ultimate buzzkill … followed by the ultimate buzz. With the Mariners down 2-1 in Game 5, Raleigh, who may win American League MVP honors next month, hit a solo home run in the eighth inning. Four batters later, Eugenio Suárez hit a grand slam en route to the Mariners’ 6-2 victory. That, right there, had the potential to go down as the greatest hit in franchise history … if only the M’s could win one more game. Many years ago, then- Times sports columnist Larry Stone and I invented a verb called Kearse." It was in reference to former Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse, who made one of the most incredible, clutch catches in Super Bowl history — only for it to be erased from memory due to Butler’s aforementioned interception. Basically, if an all-time moment is rendered irrelevant because your team couldn’t finish the job, you got “Kearsed. And that’s exactly what happened to Suárez and many of his teammates … because it seems the Mariners are cursed. The Jays won Game 6 6-2 after scoring the first five runs of the contest. Didn’t seem to affect Seattle in Game 7, though, as the M’s led 3-1 through six innings. Julio Rodríguez had a double and a home run. Raleigh added a solo homer of his own. And ace Bryan Woo, pitching in relief, was cruising. Then, in the top of the seventh, Woo walked Addison Barger. Then, Isiah Kiner-Falefa singled on the next at-bat. Then, Andrés Giménez bunted them over to second and third, prompting Mariners manager Dan Wilson to pull Woo and replace him with … Eduard Bazardo. Bazardo is a fine pitcher. But he’s no Andrés Muñoz, who had not given up a run in 13 innings this postseason. Questionable decision by Wilson considering Springer — who had the fifth-most home runs in playoff history — was up next. And when Springer socked a three-run home to put the Blue Jays up 4-3, it became a notorious decision — fair or not. That ended up being the final score, as the M’s couldn’t muster another hit. Closer Jeff Hoffman struck out all three batters he faced in the ninth inning — including Rodríguez to end the game — to send Toronto back to the World Series for the first time in 32 years. You can’t get much closer than that if you’re the Mariners. Meaning it can’t get much more painful if you’re a fan. This team has been around for 48 years and still can’t get over the hump. Who knows? Might take their supporters just as long to get over that loss.
