Every step of the way, the universe offered the M’s a chance. An opportunity to opt-out, to Lollablueza, to Deadgar, to Court the Supreme. With attendance availability at full for the first time in a year and a half, a less-than-sellout-but-more-than-hyped crowd was treated to the 2021 Seattle Mariners. Their starter gave them a shot. Their bullpen kept them in it. And somehow, some way, their ramshackle assortment of rare-do-wells did just enough to make them champions of the night.
It wouldn’t be too tough to list off a series of “clutch” wins the Seattle Mariners have had at various moments to dissuade the well-constructed narrative of the M’s crumbling in the clutch, but the ultimate failure to reach the playoffs from this club in the past 20 years renders most efforts at nuance understandably uninspiring.