In 1969, a few years after the construction of the iconic Space Needle, the city of Seattle was awarded a Major League Baseball team. The team was named the Pilots, due to the heavy ties to the aviation industry. The Pilots were one of the worst teams in baseball, but the on-field product wasn't the biggest problem. The ballpark (Sick's Stadium) wasn't cutting it and attendance was bad. In the offseason, after just one year, the team was sold to a car salesman in Milwaukee, who then moved the team there and named it the Brewers.
In 1977, Seattle now had The Kingdome and was awarded the Mariners as an expansion team.
Between the two teams berthed in Seattle, there are zero World Series Championships and one pennant (the 1982 Brewers took the AL pennant). The Mariners have only been to the playoffs five times, but four of those came from 1995-2001. From 1969-2017, the Pilots/Brewers had only made the postseason four times. They've made it four straight times from 2018-21, but they've still yet to win an NL pennant.
Might this be the year that one of the teams originating in Seattle break through and make the World Series? What if they both made it and faced each other? That would be pretty fun.
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One thing is for sure: These are the two hottest teams in baseball right now.
The Brewers have won eight in a row and, despite a furious effort from the Cubs, hold a four-game lead in the NL Central. They've actually won 12 of 15 and those three losses came to the Dodgers, which is hardly an indictment. Since June 24, the Brewers are 34-20, which is a 162-game pace of 102 wins.
The Mariners scoff at such a pace. They've won 11 of 12, 19 of 23 and have gone 36-14 since the beginning of July. That's a 162-game pace of 117 wins. They were 7.5 games out heading to Aug. 16 and are now alone in first place, an outrageous turning of the tide in such a short period of time.
Though a Seattle-themed World Series isn't the most likely matchup, it is distinctly possible now while in late June the very idea would've gotten you laughed off the internet.
Biggest Movers
Rk Teams Chg Rcrd 1This has got to be the fewest number of No. 1 teams I've had this late in the season, right? It was basically the Rays for a few months and then the Braves have been parked here ever since. I remember one summer where I had a new No. 1 something like six straight weeks. What a contrast.
2Freddie Freeman is up to 50 doubles now after adding two more on Sunday. No one has gotten to 60 doubles in a season since 1936 and the all-time record is 67.
3The Orioles were 24-11 in one-run games until Sunday's loss. What a potentially catastrophic blow to lose Felix Bautista, arguably baseball's best closer this season.
4Are they back? The Rays have won six of their last seven.
5This is the latest into a season (in games) the Mariners have been in sole possession of first place since 2003.
6Jeremy Peña is hitting .333 in his last 29 games. Perhaps he's rid himself of that pesky sophomore slump.
7They can't lose their lead in this three-game series against the Cubs starting Monday, but the Brewers should view it as an opportunity. They could put the Cubs back seven games with a sweep.
8Huge outing from Aaron Nola on Sunday. If he's "back," that goes a long way in helping their chances to repeat as NL champs.
9Seiya Suzuki by month, chronologically: Mediocre, great, brutal, bad, amazing. Your guess is as good as mine.
10The Jays are 7-10 since Aug. 7. And, actually, they've been mediocre for a long time. Remember, they started 18-9. That means they are just two games over .500 since April 29.
11Red Sox starting pitchers have only averaged 4 1/3 innings per start in the second half. There's just only so much strain a bullpen can take and we saw that play out in their two losses to the Dodgers.
12I guess this is a similar month to the Rangers (we'll get to them), just in opposite sequencing. Holy smokes. The Diamondbacks started August with a nine-game losing streak. They've gone 12-3 since.
13The Twins have a six-game lead and host the second-place Guardians for a three-game series starting Monday. It's time to start putting this thing to bed.
14Anecdotally, I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like the Rangers in August. They bolstered their rotation with Max Scherzer before the trade deadline and then won eight in a row and 12 of 14 to open the month. They had a 3.5 game lead in the AL West. Then they lost eight in a row (now nine of 10) and have fallen to the third and final AL wild-card spot. Only the Blue Jays' recent futility is keeping the Rangers in playoff position.
15So much for the rotation reinforcements: Hunter Greene has a 17.55 ERA in his two starts since returning from injury. Nick Lodolo has been pulled from his rehab assignment, too, so he's probably done for the season. Meanwhile, the Reds are 9-15 in August.
16No team has fewer than 12 wins since July 18. Here are the teams with exactly 12 wins in that time span: Yankees, A's, White Sox and Rockies. The Giants have won 13. You don't want to be in this conversation while fighting for a playoff spot.
17Luis Arraez's batting average is down to .350. In fact, after flirting with .400 for as long as he did and having the huge lead that he did, he might not even end up winning the batting title. Freddie Freeman is hitting .341. Freeman was 85 points behind Arraez on June 24.
18Since July 27, the Guardians have won 10 games and four of those came against the Blue Jays. They've gone 4-3 against the Jays and 6-15 against everyone else.
19The loss of two-way Shohei Ohtani is a big blow to the entire baseball world. I can't believe he's still hitting. No, not because he can somehow hurt himself worse (he can't), but because the Angels are cooked and he's a free agent after the year. Why not get Tommy John surgery immediately so he can be back to two-way playing as soon as possible? The answer seems pretty simple. He both loves playing so much and seems to believe they still have a chance at a miracle playoff run. What a guy. I wish it would rub off on Anthony Rendon, but that's a different discussion for a different day.
20Not really much to say at this point. They do something like take a series from a playoff contender but then get swept immediately thereafter. What a pathetic season.
21What would we have said back in the spring if informed that the Nationals would be tied with the Padres and ahead of the Mets on Aug. 28?
22The last-place Yankees have lost 12 of their last 14 games.
23That Parker Meadows walk-off homer on Friday was incredible, especially when the broadcast was showing the shots of his family's reactions. Love it.
24Francisco Lindor has posted back-to-back five-WAR seasons. The only other Mets shortstop to rack up five WAR in a season was Jose Reyes in 2006 and 2007.
25Mitch Keller's first 10 starts: 2.44 ERA. Keller's next 14 starts: 5.89 ERA. His last three? 1.35 with 25 strikeouts in 20 innings. Your guess is as good as mine.
26They are now 19 games under .500, a depth this franchise hasn't seen since finishing 62-81 in 1995.
27I would say good job by Jerry Reinsdorf to fire the front office leaders if I didn't think he was going to colossally screw up the new hire(s).
28The Rockies are on pace to lose 101 games. The franchise "record" is 98.
29The franchise record for losses is 106. These Royals are on pace to go 50-112. It's easy to overlook them and pay attention to the A's, but this pathetic team deserves plenty of attention for its own ineptitude.
30They only have six games before Labor Day, so at least they can't get to their 100th loss by then. I guess that's a positive.
