“All of the new thinking is about loss,” begins Robert Hass’s poem “Meditation at Lagunitas.”
“In this way, it resembles the old thinking.”
Last night, the Mariners gave us a new way to think about loss, that was also the old way. They lost to an inferior opponent behind stellar pitching and punchless offense, a loss they’ve re-enacted many times this season, although this time they did it in front of a historically large crowd, with hopes ratcheted up to the retractable roof of the park glowering above. We’ve seen this kind of loss so many times this season, the Mariners letting a winnable game slip beyond their grasp, but never has it stung so much, because never has it meant so much.