It was the longest elimination game in major league history. Fifteen innings. 

But for the Mariners, it was fifteen innings and twenty-four years. That’s the last time Seattle made it to the Championship series. 

Getting there wasn’t easy. This is a franchise that’s known for one thing. Failure. It’s the only major league team that has never been to the World Series. In 2001, they won a record 116 games in the regular season. And then lost to the Yankees in the playoffs. Then, they went twenty-one seasons without making the playoffs. That’s pretty hard to do, especially with playoffs continuing to be expanded. When they did finally make it in 2022, they were swept in three games.

They have seen nothing but disappointment year after year, almost always fighting for the division lead, then always petering out at the end of the season.

This season appeared to be the same. They were in first in the division the first two months of the season, up by as much as three-and-a-half games. Then, their inevitable slide saw them fall to seven games behind Houston my mid-July. They caught the Astros in mid-August, then started losing again. For a brief moment, it looked like the Rangers might even catch the Mariners. But then Seattle started uncharacteristically winning. And winning. And winning. And ended up winning the division by three games, with the second-best record in the American League, giving them a bye to the Division Series. Where they fought their way to a three games to two win over the Detroit Tigers.

It was an epic game. Every pitch was a nailbiter. But in the end, the Mariners pulled it out, winning 3-2.

Now they’re just four wins away from their first-ever World Series. 

*****