It had to be him.
The man Mariners fans boo every single at-bat. The hitter who draws such disdain in Seattle he was even booed as he limped off the field earlier in the series after taking a fastball to the kneecap.
George Springer, member of the Cheatin’ Astros team that tarnished baseball on the way to winning a World Series is going to play for another after ending Seattle’s season with a three-run seventh-inning blast that will be among the most beloved moments in one franchise’s history, and among the most regretted in another’s.
There were many huge moments in this Game 7 that more than lived up to the moment. Particularly for the Mariners, who led for most of the game.
No doubt home runs by stars Julio Rodriguez and Cal Raleigh. Shortstop J.P. Crawford’s flying double-play throw. A great four-inning start from George Kirby, who found a groove after some early command issues.
Plenty of consequential missed calls by an umpire crew that missed more than its share this series.
The Mariners got closer to the World Series than they ever have, but the ugly truth about sports is only one team gets to celebrate in the end, and closer just means more painful for everyone else.
Good luck, Blue Jays. If you beat the Dodgers you will definitely have those rings. That is a great team the Mariners just took the distance, one with the best offense in baseball and a player in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. having as good a run of playoff performance as any human being could (we have our suspicions about Shohei Ohtani, who is too good for this world).
Another truth is Seattle baseball fans do not have a lot of great postseason memories to cherish, and Edgar Martinez’s 1995 double finally has some company. Jorge Polanco’s dominance of the Detroit Tigers and Eugenio Suarez’s grand slam in Sunday’s Game 6 win will greet fans as they settle into their seats at T-Mobile Park for years to come.
But first, expect to hear a lot of moaning about the following sequence in bars and lobbies around the Pacific Northwest.
In a decision that will be scrutinized, well forever in Seattle, manager Dan Wilson turned to Eduard Bazardo when Bryan Woo let two runners aboard in the seventh inning. Bazardo has been a postseason hero for the Mariners, but had thrown two innings on Sunday night.
Springer was the first batter Bazardo saw and the rest is quite literally history.
In hindsight and at the time it was a bizarre decision. Wilson had been conservative warming pitchers up all postseason, and star closer Andres Munoz would have been a great choice at the game’s highest-leverage moment, but only the well-used Bazardo was warm. To be fair to Wilson, Bazardo only threw 15 pitches on Sunday. His two innings were short ones.
And Munoz was hardly perfect when he came in for the eighth inning, giving up consecutive singles before getting lucky on a line-drive double-play at first base.
Ultimately, the discussions about missed opportunities and blown decisions will fade like raindrops on an outfield tarp. Here is one more truth: Mariners fans felt pretty crummy at the end of the 1995 and 2001 seasons, too.
The Mariners were one of the last three teams playing in 2025. Their best players are signed to long contracts. And ESPN says they have the third best collection of prospects in the Major Leagues.
For a franchise that did not make the playoffs from the Bush years to the Biden years, things are looking up.
Even if they feel pretty low.