A smokey haze hung over Safeco Field, weighing down a team and its fans who were already filled with despair. The smoke coated their throats and lungs; it made their eyes water, and threatened to choke them, much like the team’s recent struggles fought to snuff out a once-promising season.
The smoke cast everything in a sepia hue, creating a nostalgic tone as once-great-now-aged star Félix Hernández took the mound. He wasn’t supposed to be there - his own incompetence had finally toppled him from his throne - but the smoke wasn’t supposed to be there either.