Excitement was palpable throughout the streets of Seattle as the final game of the 2025 American League Championship Series (ALCS)  between the Seattle Mariners’ and the Toronto Blue Jays was set for Oct. 20. Tied three games apiece against the Jays, pressure on the Mariners was reaching an all-time high. Just one game stood between them and making franchise history.

The only MLB team that has never made it to the World Series, the Mariners came closer to clutching the Commissioner’s Trophy this season than ever before. Neck and neck all the way to the ninth inning, the Mariners fought tooth and nail to redeem a losing streak that has haunted Seattle for decades.

Starting out promising for the Mariners, first baseman Josh Naylor singled to right field, scoring center fielder Julio Rodriguez, putting Seattle up 1-0 in the top of the first. The Blue Jays would answer back in the bottom of the inning with outfielder Daulton Varsho singling to shallow center field, tying it up 1-1. The Mariners’ offense capitalized on what they do best, with Rodriguez and catcher Cal Raleigh hitting home runs in the third and fifth innings, respectively. With a comfortable 3-1 lead, it looked like the Mariners would be ending their 48-year-long drought. 

However, the tide turned in the seventh inning when Blue Jays outfielder George Springer hit a three-run home run off Mariners reliever Eduard Bazardo, bringing the score to 3-4 and giving Toronto the lead. Despite their best efforts, the Mariners never bounced back, and the Blue Jays took home the victory.

When speaking on the game seven loss, Mariners manager Dan Wilson expressed disappointment but ultimately felt proud of the players’ performance this season.

“It was just an outstanding season, a great series here, but it’s tough to come up on the short end. I think all of us now have had a taste of how close we can get and how good this team can be. I think once you get that, that’s what you’re shooting for again the next year,” Wilson said at an Oct. 20 press conference.

Third-year Communications and Media Major Aidan Hatch went into this season with low expectations, considering the fact that the Mariners hadn’t made it to the playoffs for 21 years prior to 2022, and hadn’t finished first in the American League West division in 24 years prior to this season. However, as the season continued, he began to gain more hope.

“The difference in the team at the start of the year and at the end of the year… it went from just trying to win some games and be competitive to building a future for beyond this year,” Hatch said.

Despite the disappointing conclusion to the season, the Mariners’ offense has produced some of the best performances that the program has ever seen.

Both Hatch and fellow Mariners fan Bennett Carr, a third-year communications and media major, emphasized the incredible performance by Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh. 

“I’ve never seen a season this good from any player. Hitting 60 home runs, catcher record, switch-hitter record, Mariners record for home runs: that’s a once-in-a-generation season, right there. I don’t know if we will ever see another catcher replicate that,” Carr said. 

Raleigh received national acclaim, being named the Sporting News’ MLB player of the year, Major League Baseball Players Association’s (MLBPA) Players’ Choice Awards Player of the Year and American League outstanding player. 

Raleigh wasn’t the only star player this season. Rodriguez achieved his second 30/30 (30 plus home runs and 30 plus stolen bases) this year, becoming the first Mariners player ever to do so. 

After a season full of ups and downs, fans of the Mariners were left with a bittersweet feeling once game seven against the Blue Jays concluded.

“Heartbreaking is the best word for it. Being a fan for my entire life, 20 years, and this being the closest we’ve gotten [to the World Series] throughout the entire franchise history, it definitely stings,” Carr said. “But I can’t really call the season a failure because it [was still] very special.”

Looking ahead to next spring, both Hatch and Carr have hopes for what the team will do in the upcoming season. Hatch predicted that the Mariners will win the division again next year due to the team they have built and the new players that they will acquire. 

“I expect them to spend more money this offseason and actually try to go for those big [names] and sign them long term,” he said.

Carr said that he hopes the Mariners will re-sign a lot of their players, such as Naylor and Jorge Polanco. He also wants the Mariners to focus more on their offense now that they have a good pitcher.

“I know the front office definitely wants to spend more money and get better, but the big question is if ownership is really willing to spend that money, which in the past they haven’t. If we are able to do that, I think next year it could be even better,” Carr said. 

With the Mariners officially out of the running, the Blue Jays are facing off against the Los Angeles Dodgers, the reigning champions. At the time of publishing, the Blue Jays lead the series 3-2 with the chance to be named World Series Champions for the third time in the program’s history, and the first in over 30 years.