1995

The year was 1995. All of us were sitting on the edge of a queen bed. Our voices were nearly gone by now. Our hands were red from the high-fives we’d given each other for the last 10 innings.

This is the night that Seattle Mariners baseball transcended the sport for me. Rewind back just one month when the Mariner’s were trailing the California Angels by 13 games with just over a month left in the season. A combination of the Angels choking and the M’s catching fire down the stretch had the Seattle fans in a near frenzy.

I lived on Capitol Hill at the time and worked in the middle of the city at Wolfe Internet. The water cooler chatter was dominated by Mariner fans holding out hope that somehow they could catch the Angels. The games behind started to shrink…9…7…5 until Seattle caught the Angels at the end of the season to force a one-game playoff to see who would meet the Yankees in the American League Divisional Series.

The Mariner’s won the tie-breaker game 9-1 on an improbable bases clearing in the park home-run by Luis Sojo who was not known for his speed. This win setup the greatest game in Mariner history.

The Yankees took the first two games of the series, but the Mariner’s battled back to take the next two and tie the series at 2 games each. Game 5 was a back and forth affair that went into extra innings. The Mariner’s were down 5-4 going into the 11th inning.

At this time I was in the hotel room of my friend’s parents who were visiting from Utah. We’d piled up on their two queen beds to take in the game on a crappy 20-inch TV. But none of that mattered now. The M’s were down a run with 3 outs to go. The M’s leadoff hitter laid down a bunt and we cussed until he outran the throw putting the tying run on 1st base. Then Ken Griffey Jr. stepped to the plate. He was in his prime and even today, remains the most beloved Seattle sports figure. He’s to Seattle what Jordan is to Chicago. Griffey steps to the plate and drills a line drive into center field that nearly takes the pitcher’s head off. We all went crazy at this point. We were jumping on the beds, tossing pillows and screaming our lungs out. Could this really be happening? There’s no way the Yankee’s can blow the lead with their ace reliever, Jack McDowell, on the mound.

With runners on 1st and 2nd, Edgar Martinez steps to the plate. He’s arguably Seattle’s most consistent hitter. He takes a couple of pitches. Even fouls off a pitch behind the plate. And then magic struck. Edgar lined a sinker into left-center that rolled to the wall. Cora came around to score from second. The Yankee center fielder picks up the ball and tosses it the shortstop. Griffey is now rounding third having run from 1st base. The third base coach waves him home while the shortstop runs the ball towards the catcher who can’t get the tag down in time. I’ve seen the replay dozens, if not hundreds of times. It still gives me goose bumps. The hit, the turn around third and the dog pile with Griffey at the bottom flashing his trademark smile.

The city of Seattle goes absolutely crazy. My voice is gone. It was surreal. I couldn’t comprehend what had just happened.

So it was hard to see Ken Griffey Jr. return to Seattle this past week in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. He was greeted like a King by the Seattle fans. It’s been 7 years since he left the Mariner’s. If Yankee Stadium is the “House that Ruth Built” then Safeco Field is the stadium that Griffey Jr. built. Without the excitement generated during the 1995 season most people agree that a new stadium would not have been built, and there’s a strong likelihood that Seattle wouldn’t have a baseball team.

In the final game of the series this weekend, Griffey gave us another painful reminder of what we are missing by jacking two homers into the seats at Safeco, one of which careened off the 2nd deck billboard.

I will never forget that night spent with friends. That’s the night magic struck a team and a city.

It’s the night I become a diehard Mariner’s fan.