Still backing my beloved Mariners | Nuttman

The Mariners are enjoying a spring training splash under the Arizona sun. Why should I care? The M’s have disappointed me year after year.

Even though I am a diehard Dodger fan, the M’s are my American League favorite year after year. I am hopeful that the M’s will take me on a magical ride this baseball season.

And yet I whine come May. The M’s stink I say. Ten games out of first I lament.

And June isn’t much better. The national press has eliminated us from contention already. We are done for. We might as well quit right now and save us the embarrassment of June and July.

There is talk about firing the manager, along with trading away a key player or two.

But we’re only six games out of the wild card in July.

Then heartbreak comes along. A key pitcher is out for the rest of the season. A big trade to another contender comes late July. And another heart-wrenching loss, followed by a killer three-game loss in Boston or New York or Kansas city, watching another former Mariner lighting it up in another town for another team.

Why don’t I quit? Why do I care? It’s just a bunch of overpriced, underestimated millionaires playing a game, for Pete’s sake.

Again with the press conferences.

“We’re still rebuilding,” manager Eric Wedge says.

“It’s a process,” general manager Jack Zduriencik says. “We need to be patient.”

We still stink, I say. Why should I care? You’re only going to disappoint me. Although Cubs and Red sox fans have the license to be heartbroken come September, we M’s fans are a solid lock for third in the nation.

Then it happens. In August we win a few games, keeping us in it. We merely keep our heads above water. But soon enough, the detractors will come in saying, it’s a fluke, you suck, and you can’t make the playoffs.

We win a series that keeps us in contention. We keep winning games and our opponents lose a few. We are right there in the thick of it. And It comes down to the last series in September for the playoffs. I watch every game like it’s their last.

I follow the other teams in the division. We get to a crescendo of action where one passed ball, one stolen base, one last-minute heroic decides a game, and decides who goes to the playoffs and who is making tee times in October.

One pitch, one at-bat.

That’s why I still care.

Todd Nuttman is a regular contributor to the Kent Reporter.