Harger: 48 years of ‘maybe next year’ almost ended when M’s ownership finally invested

The Seattle Mariners came within one game of the World Series.

If you don’t like sports, stick with me, because this is actually a story about what happens when the boss finally invests in the team and you get this close to the promised land.

Sometimes that’s how progress works. It just happens to involve grown men throwing a ball really hard, and one devastating loss last night.

Seattle has never been to a World Series, ever. We’re talking 48 years of “maybe next year.” But last night? Last night we were right there. Game 7 of the ALCS, nine innings away. That’s closer than we’ve ever been.

We’ve been reminded of futility since Griffey left, since A-Rod left, since Randy left, since Felix never got a ring. We’re basically the corporate department that keeps losing its best people to Google because management wouldn’t spring for standing desks and decent coffee.

Except this year, they finally bought the standing desks.

The budget meeting that actually worked

John Stanton is our team owner. Nice guy, local, made his money in wireless communications, genuinely seems to care. For years, he has run the Mariners with a close eye on the bank account.

Jerry Dipoto, our general manager since 2015, is like that middle manager who’s brilliant at making Excel work miracles but keeps getting told there’s no budget for the good printer paper, until this year.

Our catcher, Cal Raleigh, walked into contract negotiations last March and basically said what we’ve all wanted to say. Paraphrasing here: “I’ll stay, but only if you actually invest in making the team, you know, actually competitive.”

Picture the one employee who actually knows how everything works, finally speaking up.

The message was clear: Stop being cheap, stop pretending we’re competing when we’re not. Actually try.

And here’s the beautiful part: They did.

From store-brand to name-brand baseball

Stanton opened the checkbook. It wasn’t Dodgers money, but more like finally upgrading from store-brand to name-brand cereal money, but for Seattle, this was revolutionary.

Dipoto got to shop in the actual store instead of the clearance rack at the Outlet Collection. They brought in Josh Naylor, brought back Eugenio Suárez, and pushed payroll up to $160 million.

It’s like your boss finally gave you that $10 million budget increase you asked for. Your PowerPoints have animations now, and your spreadsheets don’t crash. The TPS reports are printed on actual paper instead of recycled napkins. You didn’t win the contract this quarter, but for the first time, you were actually in the room when they made the decision. That’s progress.

Most of us are told to “be creative with resources,” which is corporate for “figure it out.” But this year, Cal Raleigh asked for actual rocket parts and got them. The rocket flew higher than it ever has. It just didn’t quite reach orbit. Yet.

John and Jerry, this is working. You got us to Game 7 of the ALCS, one game from the World Series. That’s not failure; that’s foundation. Keep listening and investing. Cal was right, we were right, and you were right to trust us.

The Seattle Mariners are going to the World Series. Maybe not this year. But if you keep this up? Soon.

Time to rub a little dirt into the wound us fans got last night. We have more baseball to play.

That’s the commentary for Oct. 21. Text us at (888) 973-5476 or leave a comment at MyNorthwest.

Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here. 

Follow @https://twitter.com/kirocharlie