John Hickey

"Mariners manager Lou Piniella tried to recall players who had made throws that impressively. He came up with only a handful of names -- Buhner's, for one -- capable of turning the game around like that." -John Hickey, Seattle PI

"Three ties. Twenty-one pitches needed to break the ties. When the Blue Jays tried to punch, the Mariners' counter-punch carried more sting. That's timing. That's astounding. That's the Mariners." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The sing-song was familiar. "Edddd-gaaar! Edddd-gaaar! Edddd-gaaar!" The setting wasn't. In games Saturday and Sunday in Toronto, Mariners designated hitter Edgar Martinez was greeted by the chants of his first name during each at-bat. He's used to it in Seattle, where he has played since 1987. But on the road? In a place where he's the enemy? "I can't remember if that's ever happened anywhere else," Martinez said. "Once in a while I'll hear one or two lone voices calling it out like that. But I don't remember anything like that. It made me feel good when they yelled like that," he said."

"When the fans support you on the road after so many years, it makes you reflect. It makes you think how quickly the time goes in the major leagues." Manager Lou Piniella said the cheers in Toronto were a measure of respect that only a veteran with great credentials can hope for. "Edgar's earned hearing that," Piniella said. "He's quietly had one great season after another. He's been overshadowed in Seattle by Randy, Junior and Alex. Now he's getting the full respect he deserves. He's always gotten it from the organization, from his teammates and from the other teams. He's getting it now from the media and the fans." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The Seattle style of 2001 would have played well in 1901. And in their bid to compensate for a perceived lack of power, the Mariners are perhaps redefining the way baseball should be played in a new century. They hit. They walk. They run. They score. And their pitching does the rest. Kansas City's six homers in the four-game series produced seven runs. Total. Seattle answered by averaging 8 1/2 runs per game even though they hit only three home runs. In this age of power baseball, the Mariners are 10th in the American League in home runs. Yet they are first in the majors in wins, and 25 games over .500 for the first time in club history." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The look was strange. The designated hitter was in the trainer's room. The right fielder was stretching, pretending he was a DH. The fifth hitter was batting third. The manager was on an airplane home. How much did these changes slow the Mariners? About as much as a window slows sunlight. The new-look Mariners gave Tampa Bay the same old thing to look at - Mariners muscle. Freddy Garcia, Bret Boone and Ichiro Suzuki led the charge as Seattle rolled over the Devil Rays 8-4 yesterday, the club-record 11th consecutive victory for the Mariners." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"With one swing, Boone carried the Mariners from a 6-5 deficit to an 8-6 lead. And with 45,812 voices, the Safeco Field crowd called Boone out of the dugout for a curtain call." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"That left the final showdown up to Sasaki and Alex Rodriguez. A year ago, they were buddies. A year ago, Rodriguez was the darling of Seattle. But that is part of the mists of history. The crescendo in Safeco Field reached a frenzy, fans not knowing whether it was more important to cheer Sasaki or boo Rodriguez. Rodriguez looked on the matchup as a chance for redemption -- and for a chance to silence the crowd." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The best homestand in Mariners history came to an end [today] with John Halama looking like, well, John Halama." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"He had some nice defensive work behind him from Mark McLemore, Olerud and Carlos Guillen, but basically threw the pitches catcher Tom Lampkin called and executed them with precision. In no other inning did the Padres have more than one man on base at a time, and Halama finished with his first walkless game since back-to-back starts May 1 and May 6 against Boston and Toronto." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"In the second game of a day-night doubleheader against Colorado, the Mariners once again looked like, well, the Mariners." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"Since May 22, when Oakland won and Seattle lost to get the A's within 10 games of the Mariners, Seattle has doubled its lead in the division over the A's. More than that, during the 26-game stretch, the Mariners haven't allowed the A's to gain ground on any day. What do those numbers translate to? If the Mariners win just half of their games the rest of the way, they will finish with 100 victories. Right now, the Mariners have won more than three-quarters of their games. The A's have won 32 games. If they were to catch the Mariners at 100 victories, they would have to win 68 of their final 95 games. That would mean averaging more than seven victories for every 10 games the rest of the season. The Mariners have done better than that so far. None of the other 29 teams have come close." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"Seattle hasn't lost three consecutive games all year. Oakland was bidding to end that streak. At the same time, the A's were in the running to be the first team to beat Seattle three times this season." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The Mariners bullpen suffered losses Sunday (Jeff Nelson) and Monday (Norm Charlton). Despite that, the Mariners relief corps leads the majors in most victories (18), fewest losses (six), most saves (33) and is second in bullpen earned-run average at 3.06." -John Hickey

"Mariners teams of yore might have conceded this one, given that Oakland scored six times in the first inning against starter John Halama. This team has broken the mold and shattered it into unrecognizable fragments. This team concedes nothing." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"Oakland reliever Jeff Tam got the first two outs of the top of the eighth, only to find out that the Mariners specialize in two-out offense. Ichiro singled and stole second. McLemore walked. On the second pitch to Martinez, the runners took off. The thought of failure apparently never entered anyone's mind. Ichiro hinted that maybe he saw something in Tam's delivery that he could exploit. But he wouldn't admit to that. Cameron suggested the double steal was a microcosm of what makes the Mariners the Mariners. The decision on whether to walk Martinez was in the hands of Howe. Martinez lined the next pitch to right-center. Two runs scored for an 11-10 lead." -John Hickey

"The consensus in the Mariners clubhouse was that Oakland played harder and better against the Mariners than anyone has this year. All the A's have to show for it is a split of the four-game series and a 20-game deficit in the American League West." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The Rally Monkey, born of a video clip that caught the fans' fancy last season, has evolved into a living, breathing monkey. The smallish simian was on the field for the ceremonial first pitch last night, then later was serenaded by with the crowd singing "Happy Birthday" during the seventh-inning stretch. How appropriate, then, that the Mariner offense, slow to get started often in the last two weeks, chose last night to get the monkey off its back." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"There will come a time when Ichiro Suzuki will cease to amaze. Just picking a date out of the hat, Nov. 5, 2020, sounds about right." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"In the heat of a Texas night, the Mariners showed they haven't lost any of their fire." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"Bell, the ball and shortstop Alex Rodriguez all arrived there about the same time. Second base umpire Rob Drake called Bell out. Bell, generally on the Gandhi end of the passive/aggressive meter, couldn't believe it. He jumped up, got in Drake's face and screamed as if Drake had stolen his last $5. Mariners coaches Dave Myers and John Moses sprinted to Bell's defense. When Drake made it clear he didn't want to hear any more, Bell grabbed his batting helmet, slamming it to the ground. It was an impressive display of emotion for a team that went from 40 games over .500 to just 39 games over." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"The Rangers aren't going anywhere this year. For one game, however, the Rangers were able to pretend they were a force to be reckoned with." -John Hickey, sportswriter

"After that, reliever Ryan Kohlmeier couldn't throw a pitch the Mariners didn't like." -John Hickey, sportswriter