A Grip on Sports: Cal Raleigh’s record-breaking Sunday kicks off a week that will end with an overload of college football

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Let’s start this week, the one which culminates in the start of the Labor Day weekend, with a few thoughts on a variety of subjects, shall we? I’ll start. You can laugh. Or cry.

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• Cal Raleigh is the best player to wear a Seattle Mariner uniform since (fill in the blank). I would finish that sentence with Ichiro, though I would not argue if you decided to reach all the way back to Ken Griffey Jr., the M’s gold standard.

Raleigh became the first catcher to hit 49 home runs in a season in Sunday’s 11-4 rout of the Athletics. And still has 31 games to become the first to exceed 50 (we have another note on that below).

Raleigh’s offensive explosion this season comes while he’s played the game’s toughest position 97 times. Hit 40 dingers while doing it. (The rest have come while he’s “rested” as a designated hitter.) And he proved last season he’s the best defensive catcher in the game.

• If – OK, when – Raleigh hits another home run, MLB history will feature a player at every position having hit 50 home runs in a season. Except one. Second base. The top total by someone who plays the position a majority of their time? That would be 45, from the Rangers’ Marcus Siemen in 2021.

• College football began this past weekend. Slowly. It will hit full throat this upcoming one, covering five days with around a hundred games.

But you know what else will hit full throat this weekend? Playoff politicking.

Beat the crowd. Start now. The winner of Sunday’s 2025 version of Catholics vs. Convicts (No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 10 Miami – you choose which is which these days) will be the last to join the chorus, but quietly possible the loudest. Unless that’s the winner of No. 1 Texas at No. 3 Ohio State. Or No. 8 Alabama at Florida State. Or No. 9 LSU, who plays at third-ranked Clemson. All those games are Saturday.

Heck, if 25th-ranked Boise State kicks off the weekend with a win at South Florida on Thursday afternoon, expect the Broncos to whinny about how they belong.

And to think, there are only about three months before the matchups are etched in stone.

• Back to the M’s for a minute. I slapped the bongos loud before the trade deadline Seattle needed to add a couple more relief arms. Surprisingly, no one listened. The M’s picked up lefty Caleb Ferguson from Pittsburgh but that was it. The roster still felt a little top-heavy in the pen.

But it seems the front office has a plan. Turn Emerson Hancock into a reliever. Huh.

The righthander, who made 15 mostly unsuccessful starts earlier this season, is in Tacoma, working on the skills needed to make the switch. To wit, going all out for a short period of time.

Hancock was clocked throwing a 99-mile-per-hour fastball in one of his two recent relief appearances, a sharp uptick in his velocity as a starter. If he can show the ability to get outs for an inning or two at the MiLB level, expect him to be back in a week or so.

• Sunday’s win also pulled the Mariners within two of the Astros in the American League West race. And kept them three games in front of Kansas City for the last spot in the wild card chase.

• The NFL’s preseason is odd. The league plays three exhibition games in three weeks. Then cedes Labor Day weekend to the college game. Meanwhile, the coaches and front offices have to determine the 53 players they want on their roster for the opening week.

And that doesn’t mean the 53 best players. The 53 players that fit.

Fit includes positional balance, special teams production, salary cap parameters and who might sneak through waivers and be available for the practice squad.

Every team, including the Seahawks, has more than 45 spots accounted for already. It’s the final five-to-eight roster spots that always seem to enthrall us for the next couple days – and weeks.

Will the Seahawks keep five or six true wide receivers? How about offensive linemen? Will Nick Emmanwori be a true safety or will his flexibility allow for another opening elsewhere? The fourth corner will be …?

It’s fun the fans, sure. Maybe for those covering the team, who try to figure it out. But for those involved it isn’t. Not one bit.

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WSU: Looking at the Cougars’ 2025 schedule, it’s obvious their secondary will be tested. There are at least a few exceptional passing attacks on the slate, quite possibly including Idaho in the opener Saturday night. Which means the two new starting cornerbacks will have to step up and shine. Greg Woods writes about them today, a pair that includes a transfer from South Dakota State (Colby Humphrey) and a reserve last season (Jamorri Colson). … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Stanford’s late loss in Hawaii ended with the Cardinal taking two timeouts to the locker room. … Up next for the Warriors is a trip to Tucson to face Arizona on Saturday night. … Washington will welcome in Colorado State that same night. … Oregon State kicks off its season hosting Cal on Saturday. … Oregon starts by hosting defending Big Sky champion Montana State. The Ducks are favored. By a lot. … There is a lot going on at Colorado, including a defensive line hoping to be among the nation’s best. … UCLA and Utah have some similarities. They meet Saturday night in the Rose Bowl. … How will the Bruins navigate their schedule? … How about USC and its 12 games? … Arizona State starts slowly, facing middle-of-the-Big-Sky opponent Northern Arizona on Saturday. After winning the Big 12 last season, can the Sun Devils make it two straight titles? … As we mentioned above, Boise State begins its season Thursday in Florida. … San Diego State is at home. It’s Stony Brook, from New York, that has to make the 3,000-mile road trip for a late Thursday night game. … How will Utah State’s inside linebackers fare this season?

EWU and Idaho: Around the (current and future) Big Sky, commissioner Tom Wistrcill spoke with the Ogden newspaper recently. … The no-contest designation for UC Davis and Mercer still bothers me a bit. … Portland State was blown out at home by Tarleton State last Saturday. Now the Vikings have to travel to BYU and face a sold-out, hostile crowd this week. … Utah Tech will be part of the Big Sky next season. This one? The Trailblazers will try to improve on last year’s 1-11 mark.  

Indians: Another solid outing from the starting pitcher, this time Griffin Herring, led the way as Spokane won the series at Everett with a 5-1 win Sunday. Dave Nichols has this summary.

Mariners: Logan Gilbert set a personal best with 13 strikeouts Sunday. … Josh Naylor has done something this season no one of his stature has ever done. And a big part of his accomplishment has occurred since he’s joined Seattle. … Yes, we linked the game story above. And here too. And we linked another story on Raleigh’s record-breaking season. Here too. We try to be consistent. And to add context. Depth, too.

Sounders: Danny Musoviski won’t be playing in the Sounders’ Leagues Cup semifinal against the L.A. Galaxy. So he was on the field Sunday as the team played another in a series of key MLS matches, against Sporting Kansas City. And led Seattle to a 5-2 victory with three goals. … While I had it right Sunday that Musoviski, one of Seattle’s top scoring threats, will not be available for the rest of the Leagues Cup matches, I had the reason incorrect. I forgot he bumped an official and was ejected from Seattle’s last match. That is what’s behind his exile.

Seahawks: We also linked Bob Condotta’s story on the opening day roster above, and we do it again here. … How many games with Seattle win? This projection has them at 8.6, which is impossible. … Jalen Milroe is well grounded by his family. … Bobby Wagner is still a leader, even though he’s doing that leading in D.C.

Storm: Wagner also owns a piece of the Storm, so he was in attendance Sunday as the team played a key WNBA game in Washington against the Mystics. It was a former Mystic, Brittney Sykes, that come through for Seattle down the stretch, though Nneka Ogwumike hit the game winner.

Golf: Tommy Fleetwood has the best nickname on the PGA Tour. But Fairway Jesus, as he’s known to his peers and the crowds, had yet to earn a Tour win. Until Sunday. In the FedEx Championship. By the way, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler finished tied for fourth, giving him 14 consecutive top-eight finishes. No one has done that since Ben Hogan. Nope, not Jack Nicklaus or Tiger Woods. So stop comparing those two yokels to Scheffler. (That’s me being sarcastic, if you didn’t know.) … It was a pretty interesting year for the Tour. … Now we can start focusing on the Ryder Cup next month at Bethpage. And whether Keegan Bradley will pick himself to play.

Tennis: The U.S. Open is known for raucous crowds. But a crowd egged on by a player, hoping to unnerve his opponent? Not sure we’ve seen that before. At least seen it and not had it punished.

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• It seemed as if there was a time portal in play Sunday. Taking us back to the 1990s. Or earlier. At least in Pennsylvania. Chinese Taipei won the Little League World Series in dominating fashion, with a one-hitter against Nevada in a 7-0 rout. It was the nation’s 18th title, but its first since 1996. Until later …