Don’t Let Mariners Fly Away

A couple standing behind home plate was holding each other, arm and arm, Mariners caps turned backward, rocking and rooting for the rally that didn’t happen.

As Jay Buhner, the last hope, walked to the plate, almost everybody was standing. Almost none of the 58,000 had left the building.

Seattle trailed the Cleveland Indians 4-0 last night, but for a month, these people had been living Mariners miracles. For a night, they were expecting one more.

But at 8:03 it finally ended.

Buhner chopped a grounder to Cleveland third baseman Alvaro Espinoza, who quieted the crowd with his final, fatal throw to first.

The hush couldn’t last.

The roar began again. Cheers that started slowly began building, a Doppler of appreciation.

These people who had lived the baseball month of their lives weren’t ready to leave.

While Mariners second baseman Joey Cora sobbed openly on the bench, the fans chanted for Edgar Martinez like a World Cup crowd chanting for Baggio.

“Ed-gar! Ed-gar! Ed-gar!

They stayed and roared like a concert crowd wanting one more encore.

These people, many of whom had lived through all the lean, unhappy years, were demanding a final curtain call from this team of their lives.

At 8:15 they got it.

Wet-eyed manager Lou Piniella came out of the dugout.

“Lou! Lou! Lou!”

And Ken Griffey Jr. was followed by all of his teammates in different stages of undress.

Left fielder Vince Coleman tossed baseballs and Mariners caps into the stands. He threw batting gloves and finally took off his uniform top and threw it.

Bob Wolcott, the winning pitcher in Game 1, threw at least a half-dozen balls into the 300 level. It was unofficial fan appreciation night.

The Kingdome didn’t get quiet until 8:20. then the cheers started again, 3 minutes later, when Cora came out in slippers, a T-shirt and shorts.

These players had taken this city to places it never had been.

These Mariners were players and politicians. Their season was all line drives and lobbying. They let their performances speak for the future of their game in this city. They stumped for a new stadium by winning the American League West.

These Mariners came from 13 games back to tie the Angels. They won their one-game playoff with California. They beat the Yankees three straight inside the Dome. They beat Cleveland twice.

These Mariners showed this city the wonders of a pennant race. They quickened its pulse; not just for a day, or a couple of weeks, but for more than a month.

They were remarkable.

They helped us forget the stench of last season’s strike. They wooed the reluctant fan and convinced thousands of fence-sitting voters that baseball couldn’t die.

Randy Johnson pitched until there was absolutely nothing left in his wondrous left arm. And closer Norm Charlton gave the Mariners so many muscle-defying innings, his left arm should spend the winter in the Mayo Clinic.

Edgar Martinez webbed line drives from May to October, and don’t ever let his slump against Cleveland diminish his year.

Jay Buhner carried the team through parts of this incredible run. His Game 3-winning home run in Cleveland will be replayed until spring.

Dan Wilson caught every difficult game for the past six weeks. Mike Blowers hit so many big home runs they’ve almost become a blur. And Tino Martinez arrived as a first baseman.

Ninth inning, trailing by one, Martinez hit a two-run home run off Oakland’s Dennis Eckersley. Believe it or not, that Sunday was only 23 days ago.

The Mariners survived the summer without Griffey. And when Griffey returned, he reminded us of exactly what we’d been missing.

In Griffey’s absence, Rich Amaral and Alex Diaz played every night as if it might be their last. Diaz’s diving catches were part of the spit-and-gum that kept this team together.

Memories? Doug Strange hit a home run against Texas and Diaz hit one against Oakland in one frenetic week in September.

“It was a heck of a lot of fun,” Piniella said. “It was a season where baseball in Seattle is going to be saved, a season where they will get a new stadium here.

“It was a season where this city has proven that it can be a great baseball city and it’s a season that this team has started to establish its own winning tradition that we can build on.”

Coleman gave the Mariners a leadoff hitter down the stretch. And jittery double-play combination Cora and Luis Sojo slapped singles and doubles in the gap, setting the table for Martinez, Martinez, Buhner, Blowers and, eventually, Griffey.

Jeff Nelson arrived as Charlton’s set-up man. Tim Belcher kept the rotation alive through the dog days of summer. And Wolcott saved the rotation in September.

For the first time in history, ownership went after players to fill gaps. Charlton in the bullpen. Coleman in left. Andy Benes on the mound. It was willing to lose money to save baseball.

Even in Tuesday night’s loss, the Kingdome roared itself hoarse in tribute to this team.

Fans stood on every two-strike pitch, a new ritual much more appealing than The Wave.

Don’t forget this feeling. Don’t lose this momentum.

Don’t let this team leave town. Beg the King County Council to approve the plans for a new stadium. Plead with Mariners management to accept the terms.

If we didn’t learn anything else this past season, we learned how precious a game can be.

This should be the beginning of baseball in Seattle, not the end.