After making one hell of a run to get to game seven of the American League Championship Series (ALCS), the Seattle Mariners gave up the lead to a clobbering go-ahead three-run home run by George Springer that ended up being the game-winner for the Blue Jays, sending the Mariners home. The constant disappointment the Mariners give their fans is an understatement, as they are emotionally impacted each season.
Laina Henderson, a lifelong Mariners fan, expressed her emotions as she watched her hometown team’s season come to an end.
“The entire city really believed that this was the team,” Henderson said. “As soon as George Springer hit that go-ahead homer, I just stopped talking and sat in silence until the game was over. As soon as it was over, I just started crying.”
After coming so close for the first time in over 24 years, fans were left with another season of being the only team without a World Series appearance.
The Mariners came in hot, taking the first two games in Toronto, leaving the Blue Jays with minimal margin for error, but the Mariners came up empty once again.
Seattle has only made the playoffs twice in the last five years, and their appearance in 2022 was their first in 21 years, but it ended quickly as they were swept by the Houston Astros.
Within the last 20 years, the Mariners have only had winning records for half of those years. On top of that, they haven’t reached more than 90 wins since 2003 and have fallen short in the last two times they clinched a playoff spot.
Despite their historically disappointing seasons, fans thought 2025 would be different.
Fast forward to this season, the Mariners took the American League West for the first time in 21 years. They battled hard throughout the playoffs, and both series they played in came down to win-or-go-home games.
They played 15 innings in their final game of the American League Division Series against the Detroit Tigers. They walked it off on a single by Jorge Polanco.
They hopped on a plane to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays, looking to punch their ticket to the World Series, but fans saw their hopes dwindle after the seventh inning of game seven.
“My initial reaction to game seven was just being absolutely devastated,” Henderson said. “It hurt so bad because not only are we still the only team to have never made it, but we all knew we could.”
While Mariners fans were left distraught, baseball fans in general felt for the city of Seattle. Aiden Hinojos, assistant sports editor of the Daily Sundial, expressed sympathy for Mariners fans.
“ALCS game seven was probably the most heartbroken outcome you can think of for the Mariners, as this was a season of promise and major improvement,” Hinojos said. “Although I am not a Mariners fan, I really did think that they were gonna go all the way, and it is heartbreaking as a fan to see them lose like that.”
Every game has one ending, and while Mariner fans were left high and dry once again, Blue Jays fans were celebrating on the other side.
Avid Toronto fan Luke Gomes watched game seven of the ALCS in awe as he saw the Blue Jays go on to make their first World Series appearance in over 30 years.
“My initial reaction to the outcome of game seven was that it was one of the coolest games to witness. … My opinion hasn’t changed – it will forever be a game that I remember,” Gomes said.
At the end of the day, the Mariners have come a long way and have made some improvements over the last few years, such as having a winning record five seasons in a row and making the playoffs twice within that span.
However, their gritty hungry team wasn’t enough, and the Mariners continue to leave their fan base disappointed.
“Safe to say nobody really expected the 2025 Mariners to come this far but around halfway through the season everybody really realized how possible it was,” Henderson said. “But we know that we won’t get any farther next season unless there are actual improvements made to this team, not just replacing spots that are now empty. The 2025 Mariners changed this city and the expectation is that John Stanton [Mariners owner] sees that and finally opens his wallet.”
