I have tried to write a couple different articles since the Mariners made the playoffs, clinched the division (with me in the crowd), and started the ALDS against the Detroit Tigers. Everything I was going to write fell under the umbrella of “holy shit I can’t believe it actually happened”, and I was far too scattered to write a proper article. The insane stress of the last two playoff games has shocked me into clarity and I now return to you when the Mariners need me the most.
Looking at the Wild Card matchups and the last few weeks of the season, I saw the Tigers as the ideal matchup. Cleveland was playing with devil magic and the Tigers were struggling, and the Mariners had beaten Tarik Skubal twice already. Forget the Astros or the Guardians, I wanted Detroit. Well I got my wish, but only after watching Skubal obliterate the Guardians in such dominant fashion that I was begging Cleveland to win the series.
Game 1 was a nightmare, plain and simple. Losing to the Detroit bullpen with George Kirby on the mound is bad enough, but to go 11 innings at home and lose after the 2022 18-inning nightmare is a gut punch. On paper, that was the easiest game of the series and now the Mariners had to win three out of four between two Skubal starts and two games in Detroit. Absolute worst case scenario, you cannot lose that game if you are the Seattle Mariners. I watched that game from a hotel room and I was not happy.
Game 2 was great, it was the exact bounceback win that the Mariners needed. Cy Young on the mound, already down 1-0, must-win game. Jorge Polanco turns up and says “Yeah let me rock him to sleep because I’m his dad”. The first player since 2021 to get multiple home runs off Tarik Skubal, and it couldn’t have come at a better time. But this was far from a stress-free win, as a costly error and a jammed double tied the game in the 8th inning, and it was time to panic. That is, until Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodriguez showed why they are superstars. Tied series, crisis averted, but man did that game scare me.
Game 3 was by far the most stress-free, but even that wasn’t fully relaxing. Yes the Mariners went into the 9th with a 8-1 lead, putting in Caleb Fergeson to get the last three outs. But no, he had to get shelled, allowing three runs and no outs, forcing Dan Wilson to use Andres Munoz in a game he should never have needed to pitch in. Even an easy win turned into a stressful final frame.
Someone on Twitter said that playoff baseball takes every boring part of baseball, every bit of waiting, and replaces it with stress. I think that might be the best description of the postseason I’ve ever heard. This is only my second time watching the Mariners in October, and I don’t know if my body can take it. I legitimately gave myself a nosebleed during Game 1 from stress. For all the younger Mariners fans like me with not a lot of playoff experience, I can recommend yoga or some form of stretching to help with nerves. If the players are staying loose, so should we. It’s like Cal Raleigh says, motion is lotion. Game 4 is today and the Mariners could clinch the ALCS. If not, the fans are in for the most stressful Game 5 since 1995. Just remember to breathe.
Go M’s,
Henry “I Believe In Bryce Miller” Neiman