Mariners’ Success Has Reignited Baseball Excitement In Seattle

Did you pay attention to the Seattle Mariners this season? I confess I'm a fair-weather sports fan. If the Mariners were losing like they were last year, I would not care. But the Mariners were winning and in good form. So being the not so dedicated follower of sports that I am, I got excited about the Mariners. 

How did this happen? 

As I watched the Mariners play for those last few weeks of the season into the postseason, I discovered that I might like baseball again, and I'm apparently not the only one. 

According to Seattletimes.com,
‘The M’s were the No. 1 trending sports team for Google searchers in the U.S. this year and No. 10 globally, according to Google’s 2025 Year in Search. And yes, Google’s metric includes the teams of the NFL, NBA and English Premier League, among every other professional sports league in the world. In fact, no NFL team cracked the top 10 on either list.’ 

To me, this is almost an unbelievable accomplishment. I mean when you consider the incredible number of human beings on the globe that follow soccer, (Football anywhere else in the world except the United States) I personally found myself captivated by the coverage of the games. 

There's still a lot of dead time in a baseball game. For those of us raised on the concept of instant gratification, baseball is a nonstarter. Baseball is the kind of sport that appeals to a fan that wants to kick back and relax and have a beer and a hot dog. (OK, maybe too hot dogs) and just enjoy the ballpark. 

Hurray for the pitch clock.  

One thing I really enjoyed about the coverage of the games that I watched was the commentary. Even with a pitch clock, there's lots of room for commentary, and I will say this; the pitch clock speeds the game up quite a bit. I found it really interesting how much time the color commentator spent on the team manager's use of the bullpen. I'm not sure I understood much of it, but I found it interesting. 

So even though they didn't make it to the World Series, I offer heartfelt congratulations to the Seattle Mariners. Here's hoping they do at least as well next year, if not more. 

Now, when will the Seahawks play this weekend?