SEATTLE — In the bottom of the fifth inning on Saturday night at T-Mobile Park, Cleveland Guardians reliever Matt Festa pitched to Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh, getting him to fly out to left field.
And while they are rivals in this series between the two American League playoff hopefuls, they are forever bonded because of the events of this offseason.
Advertisement
Festa and his fiancee, Danamarie McNicholl, got married at a castle in Dublin, Ireland in November – the pictures on social media making it seem like the event of the offseason.
George Kirby (L) and Matt Brash (R) take part in Matt Festa’s wedding.
The reason for an Irish wedding? McNicholl’s family has strong Irish roots and she visited frequently as a child. Speaking before Saturday’s 6-5 Guardians win, Festa smiled and said an Ireland wedding was a ‘non-negotiable’ for her.
Advertisement
While Festa had to travel across the Atlantic Ocean to get married, he certainly didn’t do it alone. Several of his former Mariners teammates attended the shindig as well. Festa, 33, spent parts of four seasons with the Mariners (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023), creating strong relationships that transcend player movement and roster placements.
Raleigh, George Kirby, and Matt Brash were all there from the current Mariners, and former relievers Paul Sewald and Penn Murfee were also in attendance. Logan Gilbert was supposed to go, but was occupied with the birth of his family’s first child.
“I ​mean, ​it ​means ​the ​world ​to ​me ​that ​they sacrifice ​their ​time ​and ​their ​money ​to ​come ​to ​celebrate ​that ​moment. ​And, ​you ​know, ​we’ve ​shared ​so ​many ​memories ​together. ​Like, ​whether ​we ​were ​coming ​up ​in ​the ​system ​together, ​​me ​and ​Penn, ​or ​​we ​were ​breaking ​a ​playoff ​drought ​in ’22, ​like, ​that ​really ​brought ​us ​all ​together, ​and ​that ​was ​one ​of ​the ​most ​fun ​teams I’ve ​ever ​played ​for.”
Advertisement
Spoiler alert. Murfee is coming on the ‘Refuse to Lose‘ podcast this week and we’re going to ask him about the Festa wedding experience.
Beyond the talk of his nuptials, Festa also talked about breaking the drought in 2022 and helping lead the Mariners to the playoffs for the first time since 2001. He was an integral part of that roster, pitching to a 4.17 ERA in 53 games. He struck out 64 batters in 54.0 innings and said he absolutely grasped the gravity of the drought-breaking experience.
Cleveland Guardians reliever Matt Festa (52) delivers a pitch during the sixth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
“Absolutely. ​I ​would ​say ​right ​around ​the ​deadline, when ​we ​made ​those ​moves ​and ​really ​took ​a ​shot ​at ​going ​for ​it, ​we ​felt ​like ​we ​were ​going ​to ​do ​it. ​And ​I ​didn’t ​really ​feel ​how ​much ​the ​city ​appreciated ​until ​it ​was ​all ​over, ​and ​you ​kind ​of ​got ​to ​decompress ​a ​little ​bit. ​And ​I ​spent ​a ​couple ​days ​out ​in ​Seattle ​and ​​people ​would ​just ​thank ​me ​on ​the ​streets. ​It ​was ​really ​cool.”
Advertisement
The Mariners acquired Luis Castillo at the deadline that year and he helped them win a wild card series against the Toronto Blue Jays before the M’s fell in the American League Division Series to the Houston Astros.
Festa worked 1.2 scoreless innings on Saturday. The two teams will finish out the series on Sunday at 4:20 p.m. PT.
Remember to join our MARINERS on ROUNDTABLE community, which is FREE! You can post your own thoughts, in text or video form, and you can engage with our Roundtable staff, as well as other Mariners fans. If prompted to download the Roundtable APP, that’s free too!