The odds in Las Vegas for the Seattle Mariners to win the 2019 World Series are currently 20 to 1, while the odds for the Mariners to win the American League Pennant are 10 to 1.
Don’t tell that to the ultra-hot Mariners team, however, who aren’t listening to the odds, their horoscopes, or the baseball historians that jokingly point out the team has not even been in the Major League Playoffs since 2001.
Instead, the Mariners, with a 13-3 record stand atop the entire major league standings and would seem to be chanting the late Al Davis Oakland Raider’s mantra, “Just Win Baby!”
Unexpected Results
By all accounts, nobody, including General Manager Jerry Dipoto, foresaw a team that was playing 800 percent baseball. After all, even the 1906 Chicago Cubs, the Major League Team with the highest percentage ever, finished with an overall season percentage of 763.
However, even if the Mariner’s drop to playing 500 ball for the remainder of the season, they have given Mariner fans some real and significant excitement after a mere 16 games of baseball.
Consider these facts:
-The Mariner’s have a best in the league home run record.
-The Mariner’s had a six-in-a-row winning streak.
-The team averages an astonishing 7.8 runs per game.
-Not only do the Mariner’s lead the league in dingers, they also lead all teams in hits, and stolen bases.
Wasn’t This Suppose to be a Building Year?
You’re damn right about that. After 2018 record of 89 wins and 73 loses, the Mariner’s decided to trade six of the teams top veterans and added on a few of what veteran sportswriters call, “average players.”
Outside of the addition of a Japanese import to the pitching staff, on-paper the Mariners look at best like the average baseball team they have been for the last several years. Poor pitching, a poor bullpen, and lots of unnecessary fielding errors.
So how have they risen in the ranks to be one of the most exciting teams in baseball?
One Sports Illustrated sportswriter, not believing in the hype, attribute the Mariners opening start of the season to a “tissue soft” schedule, and points out, that upcoming games against Houston, the Cubs, the Indians, the Yankees, the Red Sox’s, the Athletics and the Minnesota Twins.
Meanwhile, other writers note that it’s like the Mariner’s were starring in their own sports movie, playing far beyond their capabilities.
So How Long Will the Winning Last?
That’s hard to say. What most fans see is what is in front of them. Somehow, homers lead to other homers and hits to other hits. This team, at present, doesn’t seem to care about errors, steals, or homerun records. It’s quite apparent from watching a Mariner’s game that these guys are having fun, duking it out as a team.
And that’s something that all but the most die-hard fans have missed in Major League Baseball. A really fun team to cheer for.
The Seattle Mariner’s may not continue their hot streak. They may not even get into the playoffs. But if their exciting baseball play continues, keep an eye out for those Vegas odds to drop dramatically as the season progresses.
