SEATTLE — The revelers, those starved, curious and resilient creatures known as longtime Mariners baseball fans, packed Occidental Avenue on Saturday morning, two hours before first pitch. They carried exceedingly optimistic “World Series” signs, shouted “God hates the Astros,” and jammed into every inch of every store for blocks, all while balancing rally shoes atop their heads. They wore Ken Griffey Jr. jerseys, Big Dumper T-shirts and rare expressions—Joy? Excitement?—across their faces.
They didn’t care about things like logic, reason, elite opposition or tortured franchise history. Didn’t care that the Astros, their hated rivals, held a 2–0 lead in their division series. Didn’t care that Houston slugger Yordan Alvarez had rendered 18 taut, tactical, fairly even playoff innings little more than a painful learning experience. His moonshots in Games 1 and 2 reminded Seattle of the gap that remained—between the Mariners and the Astros, yes, but also between the M’s immense promise and the future World Series title they envision.
Still, this marked a fall weekend when local sports fans clogged the traffic-less street that runs the length of Lumen Field, home of the NFL’s Seahawks and their roaring crowds. Except that, on this particular fall weekend, those fans weren’t heading into Lumen. They were streaming past it—and right toward the first postseason baseball game held in these parts in 21 long, fraught, wait-until-next years.
