Heroes and History: How the West was finally won for the Seattle Mariners

September 19, 2001: The Seattle Mariners clinch the AL West division. Making history with an 116-46 record, they win against Cleveland in the ALDS only to fall 4-1 to the Yankees in the ALCS.

On that clinching team includes then-future Hall of Famers Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez, as well as future Mariners’ Hall of Famers Jay Buhner, Dan Wilson, and Jamie Moyer.

2002 – 2021: The Seattle Mariners do not clinch the division during any of these years. In fact, they don’t even make the playoffs.

2022: The Seattle Mariners make the playoffs. They don’t clinch the division, and make it in through a Wild Card. After sweeping Toronto in dramatic fashion over a two game Wild Card Series, they are then swept out of the playoffs in three games against the AL West division winning Houston Astros. The Astros go on to win the World Series.

2023 – 2024: The Seattle Mariners do not clinch the division, or any playoff spot at all.

Three nights ago, September 21, 2025: After three nights in Houston, the Seattle Mariners complete a sweep of the division rival Houston Astros, and in doing so not only secure the season series tie-breaker but also move to three games ahead in the division with six games left to play.

September 24, 2025:
Much like an emerald for which our city is named, a glimmer of green light found buried, and when unearthed found to be brilliant, faceted, and precious… so goes the sports fandom in Seattle. Deep, brilliant… and when brought to the surface, when the right light shines upon it, nothing else compares. No other glittering horizon, no other sparkling rolling Puget wave, could replace the feeling that comes with the reflection. T-Mobile burst into brilliance with that reflection today, and 42,883 points of light, 42,883 Seattle Mariners fans were the source.

Rare comes the decisive victory, rare comes the historic moments, rare come the gems. But tonight, Seattle chose to be rare. They didn’t just come to win, they didn’t come to celebrate. They didn’t come to fight, and they didn’t come to saunter. That is what teams that rely on chaos do. That can be a fun differentiation, have it’s own magic or mojo. A wild team would do that, for sure. But, champions? Champions seize the moment. Champions seize history. But… are the Seattle Mariners champions?

The Mariners teams of this era, of the recent years, have been in terms of success, first achieved by establishing an elite rotation. A rotation that as it was forming had many in Northwest Green uttering “Oops, All Aces”, near disbelieving appreciation for the complete squad. All of that same All Aces rotation remains, to varying degrees of “ace” status, four out of five of them prospects Seattle developed through their own system. The fifth person? Luis “La Piedra” Castillo. The veteran acquired by trade, their rock, and for much of his time here, their stalwart wall.

Some have claimed there to be cracks in the wall, and sure, the sturdiest barrier will still show its age. But cracks?

Do these ten strikeouts over 7.1 innings of work look like cracks to you? I don’t think so. Tonight Castillo talked the talk and well, walked nobody. The only moss on this wall was the one earned run, a home run, when Blaine Crim found a fastball at the top of the zone. You know what? Moss adds character. La Piedra exited the game to standing ovations. The glimmer became a shine, and our rock, is a gem.

The walls can protect, but to find those elusive treasures, to seize the destinies that make us rich in spirit, we must strike out. The bold must wield tools, the feet must be fleet, and the blasts must be dynamic. A baseball team can win on pitching, but not entirely alone. Without heroes wielding bats, those victories ring a little hollow. Those victories lead to moments of good, and long stretches of droughts. Division winners do it on the back of heroes on both sides of the ball. The Mariners of 2025 has pitching; they have their aces and their walls, their firefighters and their brash. But do the 2025 Mariners have heroes?

They do. They have Cal Raleigh. A legend already speaking for itself. A man who has hit more home runs in a year than any switch hitter, any catcher, any Mariner. Tonight, he hit number 59. T-Mobile Park erupted with the history, and blinding reflection of the sun at the center of it all, Cal Raleigh. Catcher, leader, history maker.

But division winners don’t win with a hero. Heroes. Plural. Not just Cal Raleigh. No, more would need to strike out. Not just history, but a show. A JRod Show. Wasting no time after Cal made history in the first inning, Julio Rodríguez made it a back-to-back affair, putting the Mariners up 2-0 early with a solo shot of his own. Julio’s 32nd home run of the season.

But the first wasn’t done. Jorge Polanco unearthed something as well, his 25th home run, to make it 3-0 in the first.

They wouldn’t all be home runs. Only one inning later, Raleigh would strike again. This time a line drive double right down the right field line, scoring both runners of Dominic Canzone and Victor Robles, who reached on a double and a HBP, respectively. The Mariners were up 5-0, and only two innings were finished. A win would mean history, a win would mean the division title… but auspicious though the start may have been, there was still a lot of baseball.

The next to score was the Rockies, on the aforementioned solo shot given up by Luis Castillo in the top half of the fourth inning, Castillo’s only mistake of the night. In the bottom of the fourth, the Mariners answered.

Victor Robles started off the Seattle half by reaching on a throwing error by Orlando Arcia, and J.P. Crawford reached on a single that saw Robles move to third. Randy Arozarena hit one hard enough to think maybe he was going to send his slump over the wall, but instead only sent it to the warning track, where it was still more than good enough for the sacrifice RBI, scoring Robles. 6-1 Mariners. Raleigh would fly out and Julio would walk before Josh Naylor would come up to the plate, setting him up with runners on first and second. Naylor hit a single right up center field that filled that empty spot on third with Julio, but more importantly sent Crawford safely home. 7-1 Mariners.

More heroes. What are champions, if not a team of heroes. But did the Mariners have enough heroes? Have they crossed the divide? Have they won that division?

Eugenio Suárez. Geno. Good Vibes Only. A Seattle favorite previously arrived, departed, and returned via trade. He didn’t start the year on the team, but he is finishing with them. They are finishing big. Right field, his 48th of the season, Geno played hero and hit a home run to give the Mariners one more. 8-1, Mariners.

The opponent doesn’t matter. The history, honestly, doesn’t even matter. What matters is the moment, the glimmer, the reflection. That is the real history that lives, that breathes, that transcends time. Once again, Cal Raleigh shone, once again, he transcended.

60 home runs. By a Seattle Mariner. By Cal Raleigh. By a division champion. 9-1 Seattle Mariners.

Caleb Ferguson and Luke Jackson combined to finish the 1.2 innings Castillo left, but today, with this team, it felt like it could have been anyone. Jackson gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth to get it to the final score of 9-2, and collected a strikeout, which also happened to be Blaine Crim for the final out.

It had been 24 years since the Seattle Mariners clinched a division championship. That team is well cemented in their legacy, still intertwined with the team as they may be, as we hear Jay Buhner on the broadcast, see Dan Wilson lead the team from the clubhouse. Today’s team is still writing their legacy, and what exactly that is, what today’s game means… That remains to be seen. For tomorrow. For the playoffs. For the years and the games still yet to come. For history, still yet to be made, for lights still yet to shine. But today, for the first time in a long time, the constellation guiding Seattle forward, is that the Mariners are champions.