It’s September. The temperature is starting to drop, the days are getting shorter and Major League Baseball games are becoming more meaningful.
With the playoffs lurking around the corner, many teams are fighting for division titles and wild card spots, while the rest, like the Seattle Mariners, are playing the role of spoiler, trying to defeat teams that are on the brink of the playoffs and then sending them home too.
The Mariners were 69-76 as of Friday night and in last place in a tough American League West division, with the Texas Rangers leading the division, the Oakland Athletics clinging to a wild card spot and the Los Angeles Angels just 2.5 games out of the second wild card spot in the American League.
With less than 20 games left in the season and their playoff hopes basically gone, what’s next for the Mariners?
Well, just as in recent years, they are going to have to solve their offensive issues in the offseason. The Mariners placed last in the American League as of Friday night in runs scored.
So, hopefully upper management can pick up a solid hitting free agent or two this offseason to add some punch to that struggling lineup.
Although the offense did not produce enough runs this season, there are not many other holes in the team.
Of course, when talking about the pitching staff, Felix Hernandez is the first pitcher that comes to mind. The American League Cy Young Award winner and perfect-game thrower brought hundreds more fans to the King’s Court seats at Safeco Field this season.
Closer Tom Wilhelmsen also brought fans to their feet at the end of games this year blowing 97 mph fastballs by confused hitters to end any opponent comeback chances.
Kyle Seager played well for the Mariners at the plate and in the field, and a couple outfielders stepped up this year to fill center fielder Franklin Gutierrez’s shoes, who was placed on the disabled list in late June because of a concussion and was activated from the DL in late August.
Michael Saunders, one of those outfielders, caught fire in August after struggling earlier in the season swinging the bat and Trayvon Robinson flashed the leather a couple times making outstanding catches in left field.
The future looks promising for the Mariners.
Hey, I thought they were going to make a serious playoff run when they went on the seven game winning streak in late July and early August and the eight game winning streak in mid-August.
But when will the Mariners bring a playoff game to Safeco Field and to the loyal Northwest fans?
When will they return to Seattle’s golden age of baseball when players like Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey, Jr. and Randy Johnson ruled the Kingdome in the ‘90s?
Or how about when John Olerud, Ichiro, and Freddy Garcia led the Mariners to 116 regular season wins in 2001 matching the 1906 Chicago Cubs’ record for the most all-time?
Hopefully the Mariners can punch their postseason tickets in 2013. It seems like they’re so close.
Whether they make the playoffs next year or not, the future looks bright in Seattle, even in a city that is often gray.