Are the Seattle Mariners Cursed?

As an avid sports fan, there are a select number of teams who I can't help but be fascinated by, for different reasons. Regarding the Seattle Mariners, it amazes me how unlucky that team is, as well as what little success they've had. The Mariners were actually Seattle's second attempt at a Major League Baseball franchise, following the Seattle Pilots, who debuted in 1969 and ended up moving to Milwaukee and becoming the Brewers in 1970. It was seven years later that MLB returned to the Pacific Northwest in the form of the Seattle Mariners, who were one of two teams added to the American League in 1977--joining the American League West while the Toronto Blue Jays joined the American League East.

The Blue Jays won their first division title in 1985--their ninth season of existence. The Mariners? Not as lucky. Their first ten seasons saw them finish either in sixth place or last place in the seven-team American League West, and also lose 100+ games on three occasions. Their best season in their first decade? 1982--which saw them go 76-86 and finish fourth in the AL West. The team's first winning season didn't occur until 1991; going 83-79, which was good enough for fifth place in the American League West.

The 1990s were a decade of promise, as the team was led by an eventual Hall of Famer in Ken Griffey Jr., and it was that during that decade that they traded Ken Phelps for Jay Buhner (the trade that had Frank Costanza blowing a gasket), and those two, along with Edgar Martinez, Tino Martinez, and pitching ace Randy Johnson, made them a big time team. However, the Mariners were in danger of folding entering the 1995 season. A miracle was needed to keep the team in Seattle. That miracle came in the form of their first ever postseason.

In a slightly shortened 1995 season (144 games; following the 1994 strike), the Mariners finished tied with the California Angels at 78-66, leading to the two teams facing off in a tiebreaker for the AL West crown. Behind Randy Johnson, the Mariners blasted the Angels, 9-1, to win the AL West for the first time in franchise history; doing so in the team's 19th season of existence. Now, it did take a slightly shortened season and the AL West being reduced to four teams due to a realignment that saw Central Divisions in each league, but still, the Mariners were a playoff team. The M's eliminated the New York Yankees in the first ever American League Division Series, but could not defeat the 100-win Cleveland Indians in the American League Championship Series.

The team was saved and looked to get back into form and reach (as well as win) the World Series. They missed out in 1996, but 1997 saw the Mariners win the AL West again at 90-72, but they were defeated by the Baltimore Orioles in the ALDS (four games). After back-to-back third place finishes in the AL West, the Mariners reached the postseason in 2000 as a Wild Card, and in the ALDS, they swept a Chicago White Sox team that won a ML-best 97 games that season, but they were ousted in the ALCS by the Yankees (six games). Their 91-71 record was their best season ever. Emphasis on was.

2001. Ichiro was introduced to the city of Seattle. The Mariners went on a huge tear that year. 116 wins. Let me spell that out for you. One hundred and sixteen wins. They tied the all-time ML record for wins in a season, and they actually had one chance to get 117 in their final game of the season, but didn't win it. Even so, the Mariners were expected to win the whole thing easily that year, but in the ALDS, they needed all five games to beat the Cleveland Indians. And even with that massive record, they still could not defeat the Yankees in the ALCS. After splitting the first two games in Seattle, manager Lou Piniella basically guaranteed that they would be back in Seattle in this series. That would not happen. The Yankees swept their home games and took down the Mariners easily.

2002 and 2003 saw them with back-to-back 93-69 records, which would have been good if it weren't for the Oakland Athletics in both seasons, and the Angels in 2002. The team took a huge dive after those years, beginning a stretch between 2004 and 2012 that saw the Mariners finish in last place in the four-team AL West seven times in those nine seasons. The Houston Astros moved to the AL West in 2013, but they were another team who the Mariners couldn't topple, as each passing season added to their playoff drought.

Here are two key dates that added even more detriment to the history of the Mariners:

December 31, 2017: It was the final week of the NFL season, and the last playoff spots were up for grabs. The Buffalo Bills defeated the Miami Dolphins to stay alive, meaning that they needed a Baltimore Ravens loss to put them in the playoffs. The Ravens were playing against the lowly Cincinnati Bengals, but with just a few seconds left, Andy Dalton led what would be a game winning touchdown drive that ended up eliminating the Ravens, and placing the Bills in the playoffs for the first time since 1999. The Bills had the longest playoff drought in all of sports until that day. Now the Seattle Mariners own that distinction, as their 116-win season in 2001 served as their last postseason to date.

October 15, 2019: Game Four of the National League Championship Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Washington Nationals. The Nationals had already made history twice in their run. When they defeated the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Wild Card game, it marked the first time they actually advanced in the postseason--not counting that their win in the makeshift "Division Series" in 1981 as the Montréal Expos. Their NLDS win over the Los Angeles Dodgers was the first time they won an actual postseason series, and on that aforementioned date, the Nationals led the NLCS 3-0 and were looking to complete the sweep. They did just that, defeating the Cardinals, 7-4, to reach the World Series for the first time in franchise history. As a result of that Game Four win, the Mariners are now the only team to have never won a pennant. Oh, and the Nationals won the World Series that year.

The Mariners have had their share of legends in the team's history. Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Jay Buhner, Ichiro, Felix Hernandez. Yet despite this, that team literally has nothing to show for it. Felix Hernandez has been in MLB since 2005, but he has never pitched in a postseason game because he spent so long with the Mariners. If the Mariners miss the postseason this year, their drought will reach 20 seasons, which would make them the sixth team to have a 20+ year long postseason drought in MLB history. So are the Mariners cursed? All signs point to yes.

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