Say Hello To Your 2001 American League Western Division Champions
September 19, 2001
"The A's not only have the second-best record in the AL West, but in the major leagues. Entering last night's games, they had won nine of their past 10 games and not gained an inch on the Mariners. For whatever happens in the playoffs, the Mariners have established that they are the best team in the game. A 162-game schedule does that more conclusively than does winning the World Series. This is not to suggest that that you'd rather win more games than any team in baseball history but lose in the World Series. You wouldn't. The point is they are different. Mediocre teams have won the World Series. A mediocre team never has won 72 percent of its games." -Bob Sherwin
So this wonderful game began Jamie Moyer pitching like... well, Jamie Moyer as he retires Anaheim in order with a strikeout to boot and then with 1 out, Carlos Guillen walked and then Bret Boone walked and then Edgar Martinez walked and then... let's not say what happened with John Olerud and just move along to the second inning.
Jamie gave up a harmless 1-out walk to Tim Salmon and during the next 2 at-bats they keep panning over to him and for some reason Salmon is standing sort of crouched over like a lot of players do to be alert and ready to run but he is sticking his posterior out abnormally far, I mean he's on the baseline and his butt is in the outfield practically and I crack myself up thinking how funny it would be if John Olerud reached over and gave him a smack on it with his glove and told him to keep that thing to himself and anyway, Anaheim gets nothing else accomplished and then Mike Cameron walked and we won't say what Jay Buhner did and will instead just celebrate the fact that he's getting to play and then another out later and Mark "Every Man" McLemore doubled to score Cammie and then Ichiro was up and Scott Schoeneweis threw a pitch that sort of caught the catcher in the mask it looked like and the catcher got up and went out to talk to him and I crack myself up again thinking that the catcher was probably telling him "if you throw that pitch again, I'M charging the mound!" and we head to the third inning leading 1-0 where Jamie 1-2-3's the Angels and then we waste Carlos Guillen's lead off double somehow which really isn't like us at all, and meanwhile, I'm still trying to get over the commercial they showed in the middle of this inning with the Seahawk mascot because that thing really, really gives me the creeps for some reason.
So fourth inning and David Eckstein obnoxiously leads off with a single and an out later and Troy Glaus walked but Jamie retires the next two batters no problem and we're down in order, but in the midst of all this, we learn that Oakland has lost their game and it is offical: We are the 2001 American League Western Division Champions and there's a lot of congratulating in the clubhouse and Lou Piniella is walking down the line hugging everbody and I get a little choked up.
"It was a nice feeling to clinch. But it was a nicer feeling to do the job ourselves." -Mike Cameron
So fifth inning and Anaheim is shut down all lickety split like courtesy of Mr. Moyer and they pan back into the dugout where Aaron Sele and Charles Gipson are doing some whacky secret handshake thing and then with 1 out, Ichiro is safe on an error and then gets to second on a passed ball and then Carlos singled and with runners at the corners, Bret Boone hit into a fielder's choice which scored Ichiro thanks to Bret's incredible hustle up the line and then Edgar "I'm Goin Yard!" Martinez WENT YARD to put us up 4-0.
So sixth inning and Darin Erstad leads off with a single and an out later and Garret Anderson singled and with runners at the corners, Troy Glaus lined out which made me very happy and then Tim Salmon walked but Jamie K'd the next batter to finish off the threat. Our turn and Lou Pote relieved Schoeneweis and Mike Cameron reached on an infield single and then stole second and THEN Jay singled which scored him and Charles came out to run for Jay but that was as exciting as it got, and we head to the seventh inning leading 5-0.
Jose Paniagua relieved Jamie and with 1 out, Bengie Gil reached on an infield single and then they put in a pinch runner and Jose Nieves singled and Arthur Rhodes relieved Paniagua and promptly shut them down, so our turn again and Al Levine and his cool sideburns relieved Pote and Levine has the coolest sideburns in all of baseball and Ichiro leads off with a double but we surprisingly enough don't score him.
Eighth inning and Jeff Nelson relieved Artie and struck out the first two batters before giving up a harmless walk and we head off to our half and Troy Percival relieved Levine and walked John Olerud but then he struck out the side after that and I was like "DOH" and then Kazuhiro Sasaki relieved Nellie and he struck out the first batter he faced and retired the next two no problem and then the Mariners all went out for regular handshakes and hi-fives and stuff and then the players all went out and knelt on the pitcher's mound and said a prayer while the stadium was silent and I start bawling and then Mark McLemore had the American flag and the whole team started around the infield tipping their hats to the crowd that was just going nuts and meanwhile Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" ("If tomorrow all the things were gone I'd worked for all my life, and I had to start again with just my children and my wife... I'd thank my lucky stars to be living here today, cause that flag still stands for freedom, and they can't take that away... and I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free, and I won't forget the men who died and gave that right to me and I'll gladly stand up, next to you, and defend her still today... cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land... God bless the USA...") is blaring away on the speakers so I'm actually WEEPING I am so overwhelmed by all of this, especially in correlation to the atrocities of the week before, it was just so MOVING, and Arthur Rhodes ran over and hugged a police officer and some of the guys are crying as they walk around the field and then they all stop at homeplate and wave their hats some more, and this has topped my all time favorite Mariner memory (Edgar ripping one fair to score Jr. in the 1995 American League Division Playoffs) and I have never been more proud of these guys than I am right now and all I can say is what a classy bunch of people we have playing baseball for us.
"We knew we would be the first team to clinch. We wanted to be respectful while at the same time saluting our fans. Then we came in here and had a little champagne. It was subdued, but this team has played so hard and so well. They deserve it." -Lou Piniella
"It [the walk around the infield] was just something that came together. It wasn't choreographed. I have no idea how I ended up with it [the flag]. I do know I've never been more proud to be an American than I am tonight." -Mark McLemore
"What happened today, I've never experienced anything like it in baseball. It just felt emotional. I was just bawling the whole time as we were walking around the field." -Edgar Martinez
"Fittingly, Seattle's Old Faithful, Edgar Martinez pounded the win home with a long home run, and Jamie Moyer, in the finest of his five fine seasons here, got his 18th win with spotless relief from the best bullpen in baseball, Jose Paniagua, Arthur Rhodes, Jeff Nelson and Kazu Sasaki." -Bob Finnigan, sportswriter
"I am trying hard ... just not to break down. As you get a little older, you realize at this stage there may not be many more like this. But the emotions just don't seem to fit together right now. Hopefully, this is only the first of our celebrations or ceremonies, and each one will be a little sweeter. Right now, though, this is a special moment. It's just great to be a title winner. It's just great to be an American." -Jay Buhner
"In the end, if the Mariners could not feel joy, they were able to feel deep and abiding satisfaction. The Mariners, winner of 20 games in April, then 20 more in May to jump into command in the West, had heard for four months that it was only a matter of time before they hit the skids. It never happened." -John Hickey, sportswriter
"Last year, Alex Rodriguez noted proudly, 'Two years ago Randy left, last year Junior left, this year we made the playoffs.' Well, this year, he left, too, and his old club won the division and is on pace to win a record 118 games." -Bob Finnigan
"No question, we have character. We have excellent, veteran leadership. No matter what combination we put on the field, (the leadership) exemplifies itself. There's no selfishness here. And there is a common purpose." -Lou Piniella
