Larry Stone

"(Derek)Jeter looks at the Mariners without Ken Griffey Jr. and Alex Rodriguez and sees them winning the Yankee way - with strong pitching and situational hitting. They saw that firsthand during a three-game Mariner sweep at Yankee Stadium in late April. "They've got guys who can hit home runs, but they aren't home-run hitters," Jeter told the Westchester (N.Y.) Journal News. "They don't need home runs, and in that, there's a similarity. ...Fundamentally, they're real sound. In some ways, I think they're a better team." -Larry Stone, sportswriter

"With the massive safety net of a 19-game division lead, it's safe to say that tough defeats, though undeniably painful, don't linger with the Mariners quite as long as they do with mortal teams." -Larry Stone, sportswriter

"Just when it looked like their mojo was finally falling and they wouldn't attain total global domination after all, Seattle's stars realigned and order was restored to the baseball world." -Larry Stone, sportswriter

"On a 2-1 pitch, Chavez hit an opposite-field drive that carried over the left-field fence, bringing the A's streaming out of their dugout to celebrate a victory that left them 19 games behind the Mariners." -Larry Stone, sportswriter

"This one meant something extra because it followed as tough a loss as they've had all year, a walk-off 6-4 defeat the night before on Eric Chavez's two-out, three-run home run. And it showed again the myriad ways the Mariners can bite you - via long ball (home runs by Al Martin, Mike Cameron, David Bell and Bret Boone that accounted for nine of the 12 runs) or via small ball (two steals by Ichiro in the decisive eighth inning, including a double steal with Mark McLemore that set up Edgar Martinez's two-run double that put them ahead to stay). Adding to the resilience theme, Arthur Rhodes, who had coughed up a late lead two nights earlier, was overpowering in 1-2/3 innings - three strikeouts, no hits - for his second save." -Larry Stone, sportswriter