“It’s heartbreaking.”
“It just sucks. It hurts.”
Words uttered quietly in a stunned Seattle Mariners clubhouse by Bryan Woo and Cal Raleigh, no doubt echoed by countless fans wherever they found themselves Monday night.
Let it out. Monday night in Toronto was one of the toughest losses a team could take. A World Series that seemed so tantalizingly close in the 49 minutes and 46 seconds between Raleigh’s home run in the fifth inning – extending the Mariners’ lead to two runs over the Blue Jays – and the dagger delivered by George Springer in the seventh, dangled before them and quickly snatched away.
Raleigh could only watch as the Mariners’ hopes quickly faded away in the top of the ninth inning. First, from his familiar spot at the dugout opening, left foot on the top step, right leg stretched behind him, his left arm folded over his bent knee, leaning forward, focused on what was happening at the plate. Then next from the on-deck circle where he lingered as chaos erupted around him following Julio Rodríguez’s strikeout to end the game.
Their hopes of being the team that finally brought a World Series to Seattle came to an end in their 174th game. Their path set well before their first of this season. This was a group that believed from the start. This was the group that set the expectation of not just their second postseason run since 2001, but a championship. It was that belief that fueled the season-saving stretch of 16 wins out of 17 games in September.
There will be plenty of what ifs to contend with. What if manager Dan Wilson had gone to closer Andrés Muñoz in the seventh? What if they had managed to acquire a leverage bullpen arm at the deadline and hadn’t had to go to Eduard Bazardo nine times in 12 postseason games? It seems that one more arm could have made a difference for a team that primarily used just their top four relievers throughout the playoffs, giving their opponents good looks in the longer series.
There was also plenty learned by the Mariners, and about the Mariners – particularly the core members who will be back. While many had been in the postseason before, most hadn’t gone this deep. Making six cross-country flights in two weeks does not happen in the regular season, nor does playing each game at a different time. The stakes remaining as high for both teams that take the field each night throughout that time, and the atmosphere it promotes, is different. The usage of the players is different. As much as they try to keep everything the same, just another game, go with what got you there, it is all different.
The wins, the losses and the how the Mariners got to each will remain embedded in their baseball DNA, as will what they did to get to the postseason. This experience will be every bit as important in what each individual does going forward, as was what was taken from those who were here in 2022. They now know more and no doubt are waking up Tuesday morning hungrier than they could have ever expected to accomplish their goal. Seeing the Blue Jays celebrate, hearing the ecstatic cheers of 45,000 celebrating in the park, then the honking cars with fans hanging out the windows on the traffic-stopped streets outside the park will add to that hunger.
We learned the core of the Mariners is solid and certainly up to the task. One look no further than the red and teary eyes in the clubhouse to understand how much they care. That has proved to not quite be enough, however. We know they can’t expect to just run it back. There is work to be done in the not-so-offseason, but for the players, as Geno Suárez said in the Mariners’ clubhouse, their work for now is done.
“We came far, we did our best,” Suárez said quietly. “We have to feel proud, we have to feel happy. This season was very special for everyone involved in this organization. This is not the end. I feel like the future for this organization is huge. We have to feel comfort (in that). We have to now go home, think about it, deal with it, then turn the page quickly. It’s going to be there for a long time but it’s time to go home, it’s time to rest, it’s time to prepare yourself for next year. Be a dad, be a husband and be a good person outside, too.
“This is going to be in our memory forever. This season was special.”
Seattle Mariners postseason coverage
• MLB Network’s Jon Morosi: Two decisions stand out from Game 7 loss
• What They Said: Seattle Mariners after losing ALCS Game 7
• Mariners’ Dan Wilson backs Game 7 bullpen decision
• Stacy Rost: What to point to from Mariners’ Game 7 loss
• Heartbreak: Seattle Mariners sunk by Blue Jays in ALCS Game 7
