The Seattle Mariners were one win away from their first-ever World Series appearance in franchise history last season. Unfortunately, they were not able to beat the Toronto Blue Jays in Game 7 of the ALCS.
“I hate to use the word failure, but it’s a failure,” Cal Raleigh said. “What we expected was to get to the World Series and win a World Series. That’s what the bar is, and the standard is and that’s what we want to hold ourselves accountable to.”
“There’s no question that it’s going to sting,” manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s a special team in there. It’s a shame that we had to come out on the wrong side of this one.”
The defining moment for the Blue Jays was when George Springer hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to give the Jays a 4-3 lead over the Mariners, which would later be the game-winning home run that sent Toronto to the World Series for the first time since 1993.
“I love this team. I’ll do anything for these guys,” Springer said, the stadium celebrating around him. “I’ll do anything to try to play. I love this place.”
Vladimir Guerrero Jr would take home ALCS MVP honors and would quote the late great Kobe Bryant after the game.
“The job’s not finished. We got four more to go,” said Guerrero.
The Blue Jays would advance, but fell short against the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games, and Los Angeles went on to become back-to-back champions [2024-2025]. The Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named the 2025 World Series MVP.
“I wasn’t sure if I could pitch tonight until I went to the bullpen, but I’m glad I did,” shared Yamamoto.
NBA All-Star guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Donovan Mitchell, recently shared with Landon Buford.com that he was actually pulling for the Mariners to pull it out against the Toronto Blue Jays.
It has been well documented that Mitchell grew up a Mets fan because of his father, Donovan Mitchell Sr., who is the Mets’ director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.
“I respect the Mariners and everything they’ve got going on. I was really pulling for them. I mean, I like Toronto too, but I really enjoyed watching that game against the Tigers—the one that got them to the next round before facing Toronto. They hit the grand slam and all that; it was just crazy,” said Mitchell.
“I like Julio[ Rodríguez], I know him, he’s a good dude. Cal Raleigh is phenomenal, and Randy Arozarena too. Hopefully, they figure everything out together, because they’ve got a really talented group. Man, they’ve got a lot of talent over there. I’ve been to that stadium, T-Mobile Park, and that place is electric. It’s just dope to watch playoff baseball in that kind of atmosphere.
That Tigers game went like 16 innings or something crazy. I was trying not to fall asleep. But those types of games and that kind of atmosphere are definitely special.”
Mitchell was referring to the recent handshake incident attempted between Raleigh and Randy during the World Baseball Classic.
Raleigh did not respond during the post-game interviews; however, Arozarena did.
“How do you want me to respond to Cal Raleigh?” Arozarena said. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“The other thing I want to say to him, I’ll tell it to him Cuban-style. What he needs to do is go f— himself. Mexican-style: he can go f— himself. And in English, I’m gonna say it to him in English. That ‘good to see you’ he gave me? He can shove it up his a–.”
When asked about the interaction during his next media availability, Raleigh said the public was making a bigger deal of it than it really was.
“I love Randy. I do,” Raleigh said. “I hate that this is a thing. There’s no beef. When we get back to Seattle, he’s my brother. We’re family. I already reached out to him, so it’s just a competitive environment and I know he would want the same for me when we’re on the team and playoff baseball. I just have a responsibility for my teammates here right now and my country, and emotions are running high.”
Mitchell was also a part of the MLB All-Star festivities in Seattle two summers ago, and it was his first time visiting the city.
“My first time in Seattle was amazing—it brought me back to being a kid. It’s kind of weird to say, but my dream was always to be in the MLB All-Star Game. So being able to play in the All-Star Weekend softball game in front of 35,000–40,000 people was a dream come true.
It was one of those moments where I really felt like a kid again. The energy was incredible. Hopefully I’ll get the chance to do it again—I think it’s there this year.
But for me, the biggest thing was just being part of that experience.”