Tag: Seattle Mariners

11 MLB Opening Day videos that will give you chills

Chills. Literal chills.

We made it. Opening Day 2023.

Winter is officially over and the Boys of Summer are back — even if the weather outside is trying to tell you otherwise.

There’s so much to get excited for this MLB season that words can’t really do it all justice. Fortunately, your favorite team knows this. And they’re here to give the people what they want.

More specifically: hype videos. So. Many. Hype videos.

Each club typically puts together their most chill-inducing edit at the beginning of the season and the start of October. This year was no different, though a few stand out above the rest.

Not excited for baseball yet? Let these videos change your mind.

Welcome back.

MORE BASEBALL:

MLB tried to trademark the word “Seattle”

An interesting development, to say the least

Here at Seahawks Wire, we obviously focus on, well, the Seahawks and the NFL overall. But when there is a unique Seattle sports story, it’s hard to avoid discussing it. On Friday, the Boston Globe dropped a rather peculiar one involving the Red Sox, the Mariners and the Astros.

Apparently, Major League Baseball filed a trademark application with the US Patent and Trademark Office for the words Boston, Seattle, and Houston. At the request of the Red Sox, the MLB has withdrawn their application for at least Boston.

John Henry, the owner of both the Red Sox and the Boston Globe, mentioned in a statement “(the) MLB’s intent was to protect these clubs’ use of their city name in connection with professional baseball services and apparel, not an attempt to own the city name or prevent others from using the city name.”

Michael McCann of Sportico writes a team can’t own a city name, but it “can obtain certain rights for the commercial use of a city name in specific circumstances.” This article delving further into the legality of such a move can be read here.

Certainly, this is a developing story and an interesting one to keep an eye on.

Seattle: Playoffs Town, USA

The Emerald City could send four teams to the playoffs this year

The Seattle Seahawks may have been bounced from the NFL playoffs early, and while their recent history in the postseason isn’t stellar, there is still plenty for Seattle fans to be excited about when it comes to all their teams. Right now the Emerald City might be in the midst of a true sports renaissance.

For the first time in history, the Seattle Seahawks and Mariners qualified for the postseason in the same year. Earlier in the summer, Seattle’s WNBA team the Storm made yet another routine trip to the playoffs. While the Sounders of the MLS did not make their 14th consecutive appearance, Seattle may still send a fourth team to the the postseason.

In the world of hockey, the Seattle Kraken are among the best teams in the NHL. As it stands, they hold a narrow lead for first place in the Pacific Division over the Las Vegas Golden Knights. Should the Kraken finish strong, they would be the fourth professional Seattle team to qualify for the playoffs this season.

If that’s the case, it will be the most professional teams the City of Seattle has sent to each sport’s respective postseasons since 2018. That year, the Seahawks, Sounders, and Storm all made the playoffs, along with the Seawolves of Major League Rugby and the OL Reign of the National Women’s Soccer League – the last year they were in Seattle.

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Cal Raleigh to raise the 12th Man Flag

Pacific Northwest fans are enjoying high level of play from their beloved sports franchises.

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Pacific Northwest fans are enjoying high level of play from their beloved sports franchises. The Seahawks are tied for first in the NFC West, the Kraken are one of the hottest teams in the NHL, and the long suffering Mariners finally broke their 21-year playoff drought this past fall.

The Mariners captured the hearts of fans across the region, and reminded the world why Seattle is a great baseball town. Of a season filled with countless memorable moments, none was bigger than the moment the Mariners finally ended the drought.

On October 1st, tied 1-1 in the bottom of the ninth with two outs, catcher Cal Raleigh took to the plate to hit a solo home run deep to right field. The rest, as they say, is history.

Cal Raleigh has earned himself legend status in the City of Seattle, and on Sunday he will be honored by the neighboring Seahawks. Raleigh will partake in the time-honored Seahawk tradition of raising the 12th Man Flag in the south end zone.

Raleigh’s 27 home runs weren’t just a Mariners franchise record for a catcher, it actually lead all of Major League Baseball at the position.

When the Mariners resume in the Spring, it’s safe to say there will be plenty of No. 29 jerseys at T-Mobile Park. But for now, Raleigh will be wearing navy and action green to hype up the 12th Man.

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Julio Rodriguez couldn’t help but laugh after Jose Altuve’s incredible jumping throw in the ALDS

Love to see that.

When it comes to postseason baseball, we’re more accustomed to seeing hyper-focused intensity to go along with the high stakes of the playoffs. But sometimes, a play can be so good that you just have to smile and tip the cap to the opponent.

Jose Altuve had one of those moments on Thursday.

During the third inning of Game 2 of the ALDS between the Astros and Mariners, Julio Rodriguez hit a grounder up the middle that easily could have been a tying RBI with two outs. Yet, Altuve brilliantly cut the ball off with a backhand and immediately went into his throw off a fading jump.

After all that, Altuve somehow managed to get enough on the throw to beat Rodriguez to the bag who had just about the best reaction imaginable for that kind of play.

Just wow.

It’s important to emphasize just how ridiculous that play was. Not only was the degree of difficulty off the charts for Altuve, but Rodriguez is also among the fastest players in baseball (97th percentile, according to Baseball Savant).

Rodriguez smiled in disbelief about the play, and he initially thought he beat the throw. But replays would show that Altuve clearly got him by a step. No wonder fans loved that entire sequence from the two stars.

Why Mariners fans are putting ‘Rally Shoes’ on their heads during MLB playoff games

The Rally Shoe is a new thing for Mariners fans.

Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. Have you seen Seattle Mariners fans putting shoes and sandals and such on their heads during MLB playoff games and wondered what’s up with that? We’re here to help.

That’s right, we have a fun new MLB playoffs superstition that goes along with a very fun team in the 2022 Mariners: Fans are sticking their footwear on their heads to rally the team.

Is it working? Well, if you believe in such things, then yes. And if you’re wondering where it comes from? Let’s fill you in:

Seahawks vs. Cardinals: TV map, broadcast info for their Week 6 matchup

TV map and broadcast info for the Seattle Seahawks’ game against the Arizona Cardinals this week.

The Seahawks and their sudden-superstar quarterback Geno Smith will be hosting Kyler Murray and the NFC West rival Cardinals this week.

Here’s everything you need to know about how to watch.

Seahawks (2-3) vs. Cardinals (2-3) Week 6 TV map

There are ongoing discussions about the kickoff time for this game being moved to accomodate the Seattle Mariners, who are playing a playoff game next door at the same time. For now it’s scheduled to start at 1:05 p.m. PT.

506 sports

Broadcasters: Chris Myers (or Noah Eagle), Robert Smith

Local TV: In the Seattle area the game will be on Q13 Fox. For a full list of local affiliates click here.

Streaming: FuboTV (try it for free)

Odds: According to Tipico Sportsbook, the Cardinals are favored by 2.5 points.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

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The walk-off home run remains the coolest ending in all of sports

Nothing beats a walk-off homer.

This is the online version of our daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.

Playoff baseball is back in our lives in a big way and on Tuesday we were reminded of one, very important thing – the walk-off home run remains the coolest ending in all of sports.

And it’s not even close.

The Astros’ Yordan Álvarez provided the heroics in Game 1 of their ALDS series with the Mariners as his 3-run bomb to right field gave Houston an 8-7 win and sent the home crowd into absolute hysterics.

Ending a game by tattooing a ball completely out of the field of play has to be an incredible feeling. I’d probably float around the bases. Heck, I might moonwalk around the bases. The energy you must feel while the whole stadium loses its collective mind must be better than anything you could ever experience in the real world.

Then at the end of it all you have your whole team waiting around home plate, ready to pounce on you and pour drinks on you and slap you on the top of your head a million times.

It’s magical.

Let’s look at some other sports and their possible best endings:

Basketball has a game-winning buzzer-beater, which is close to the walk-off home run but doesn’t top it. If you’re at home you get all the feels of a building going insane. If you’re on the road you get to feel the sadness of the crowd. Both are pretty sweet, but they don’t match hitting a ball out of the field.

NFL has mostly game-winning field goals, which are pretty boring. We’ve seen some big game-winning TDs in overtimes but those are few and far between and aren’t nearly as cool as a walk-off homer.

The NHL has overtime goals which are exciting but don’t even come close to a walk-off homer.

Golf has birdie putts on the 18th hole which are pretty sweet but don’t really make you lose your mind.

There are lots of other sports with cool endings, too, but let’s be real – they don’t touch the walk-off homer, either.

Nothing beats a walk-off homer. Astros fans got to experience one yesterday and I’m jealous of them.

Quick hits: NBA watchability rankings… Josh Donaldson’s embarrassing mishap… MLB oven mitts… And more. 

– Charles Curtis ranks all 30 NBA teams from least to most watchable.

– Josh Donaldson thought he hit a home run… and then got thrown out at first on an embarrassing play in the Yankees’ win over the Guardians.

– Here’s why you see so many MLB players wear oven mitt gloves while on base.

– Cole Huff has his fantasy football studs, duds, and sleepers for Week 6.

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Yordan Álvarez had a cold-blooded reaction to his walk-off 3-run shot that sent Astros fans into a frenzy

Imagine being THIS calm in such a historic moment.

One of the biggest reasons the Astros seemingly make deep runs every October is that they have players who don’t shy away from the moment. When it’s time for a big hit or catch, someone usually comes through and plays hero for Houston. This was precisely the scenario for Yordan Álvarez against the Mariners (-1.5) on Tuesday.

With the Astros down 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning, they needed someone to finish the job on their last out against Robbie Ray. Given the ensuing result for Álvarez, it’s almost as if they couldn’t have picked a better person to get that coveted (eventual) 8-7 final score.

And when you see Álvarez’s initial reaction to a three-run, walk-off shot to win Game 1 — compared to an absolutely raucous Astros crowd anyway — it’s certainly a man who has been there and done that:

Oh my. What a blast to right field, and what a shot of an entire stadium going crazy while Álvarez simply stares his home run down and calmly trots around the bases.

Let’s see another angle of that crowd for electric posterity:

Álvarez’s shot made some history, too. It’s not only just the second walk-off homer for a team down to its final out in playoff baseball history, it’s also the first for a squad down multiple runs:

Kirk Gibson is quite the company to share. Not to be overlooked: The homer capped a stellar three-hit, five-RBI performance for Álvarez.

If this is how the Astros will play all postseason — getting timely plays whenever they need them — then they might be an even tougher out than anyone thought.

MLB fans crushed the Mariners’ decision to have Robbie Ray face Yordan Alvarez in the 9th

What was Scott Servais thinking?!

In many ways, playoff baseball is a different game than regular season baseball. The stakes are higher, every personnel decision is made with future matchups in mind and, often times, managers can overthink situations.

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais appeared to fall into that trap during Tuesday’s Game 1 of the ALDS in Houston. And it backfired in a huge way.

While the Mariners have used a closer-by-committee for much of the season, Paul Seward had emerged as the most reliable closer for Seattle. He recorded 20 saves with a 2.37 ERA, but he had struggled in a couple recent outings and clearly lost Servais’ trust. When he got in trouble once again in the ninth inning and Yordan Alvarez at the plate with two outs, two on and a two-run lead, Servais opted to go for the lefty-lefty matchup.

He turned to starting pitcher Robbie Ray — on two days rest — who had never recorded a save in his big-league career. He was also coming off a rough spell of allowing six home runs in his past three appearances. Guess what happened …

On an 0-1 count, Alvarez completely smoked a 93 mph fastball from Ray for a walk-off, three-run homer to give the Astros a comeback 8-7 win.

Again, this was a ridiculous move from Servais who over-managed the matchup at the worst possible time. Starters are starters and closers are closers. He chose to mess with that dynamic in a playoff game with one of the AL’s best power hitters at the plate. There’s no way to defend it.

Even with the benefit of hindsight, MLB fans were right to crush that decision.