October 8 is the Greatest Date in Seattle Mariners History
Joe Swenson
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There are many important dates in the history of the Seattle Mariners. But no date will ever be more synonymous with the M’s than October 8.
There is something about October 8 that brings out the best in the Seattle Mariners. It was de ja vu all over again as the Mariners completed improbable comeback to win their Wild Card Series with Toronto.
The Way Back Machine
On October 8, 1995, the Seattle Mariners played what many believe is the most incredible game in franchise history. It was Game 5 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees.
The game had everything, including multiple lead changes, high scoring, and Randy Johnson in relief. In the end, Seattle’s stars came through to pull out a victory.
Edgar Martinez hit a double down the left field line that scored Joey Cora and Ken Griffey Jr. The latter was the game-winning, walk-off run to move on to Cleveland for the ALCS.
This was the game that saved baseball in Seattle. It was their first postseason visit, and a franchise that was rumored to be moving to Tampa Bay (or other cities) needed this to keep Major League Baseball in the Pacific Northwest.
For those of us old enough to remember the original playoff drought. The Seattle Mariners went their first 18 seasons without making the postseason. Then they went to the playoffs four times in seven seasons before another drought began. This one was longer.
Back with a Bang
Few gave Seattle a chance against the American League’s second-ranked offense. In fact, 13 of 15 experts from MLB.com picked Toronto. Most of them had the Jays winning in two games, believing the Mariners couldn’t keep pace with Toronto’s offense.
The Seattle Mariners began to silence their critics in Game 1. They did it by shutting out Toronto with masterful pitching. Seattle didn’t need to keep pace if there was no pace to keep up with.
Recent acquisition Luis Castillo and reliever Andres Munoz combined to shut out Canada’s team 4-0. In the new playoff format, Seattle went into October 8 needing to win either Saturday or Sunday to advance to the ALDS and face their division rivals from Houston.
Luis Castillo came out firing on all cylinders.
(MLBStats x @GoogleCloud) pic.twitter.com/ABEvugsM9B
— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) October 8, 2022