BySenators Schoesler, Boehnke, Chapman, Christian, MacEwen, Nobles, Pedersen, Riccelli, Robinson, Shewmake, Warnick, C. Wilson, Dozier, Goehner, Hasegawa, Krishnadasan, Lovelett, Lovick, Orwall, Saldaña, Short, Slatter, Valdez, Holy, Trudeau, Wellman, and Hunt

WHEREAS, The Seattle Mariners entered the 2025 Major League Baseball season with four American League West Division titles and five playoff appearances since the franchise began in 1977; and

WHEREAS, The Mariners lost two starting position players early in the 2025 season, right fielder Victor Robles and second baseman Ryan Bliss, with only Robles returning five months later; and

WHEREAS, Starting pitchers Logan Gilbert, George Kirby, and Bryce Miller missed many starts during the season due to injuries; and

WHEREAS, The absence of these talented players contributed to the Mariners having a 73-68 record as of September 5th and trailing the defending American League West Division champion Houston Astros by 3.5 games in the AL West standings; and

WHEREAS, The Mariners then went on a 10-game winning streak and won 17 of 18 games to finish the regular season with a 90-72 record and win the division title by three games; and

WHEREAS, Catcher Cal Raleigh finished the season with 60 home runs, 125 runs batted in, 110 runs scored, a .247 batting average and a .589 slugging percentage, as well as stellar defensive play to lead the Mariners to their first division title in 24 years; and

WHEREAS, The Mariners defeated the Detroit Tigers in an American League Divisional Series three games to two, capped by a 3-2 victory in 15 innings that ended on Jorge Polanco's bases loaded single that scored J.P. Crawford with the winning run before a sold-out and frantic T-Mobile Park crowd; and

WHEREAS, The Mariners and the Toronto Blue Jays split the first four games of the American League Championship Series; and

WHEREAS, Seattle trailed Toronto 2-1 entering the eighth inning of Game 5 at T-Mobile Park until Cal Raleigh hit a solo home run to tie the game, followed by a grand slam home run by third baseman Eugenio Suárez that gave the Mariners a thrilling 6-2 win and a 3-2 lead in the playoff series; and

WHEREAS, After their opponents tied the series again the Mariners fought valiantly but lost 4-3 in the deciding Game 7 to barely miss going to the World Series for the first time in the team's history; and

WHEREAS, Former longtime Mariners catcher Dan Wilson, a member of every Mariners team to reach the playoffs, led the team to a division title in his first full season as the Mariners manager, and finished third in voting for the 2025 American League Manager of the Year Award; and

WHEREAS, Cal Raleigh, despite setting the MLB record for home runs by a catcher in a season, shattering Mickey Mantle's record for home runs by a switch hitter, setting a new Mariners home run record, and playing the most physically demanding position on the baseball field, was robbed by national baseball writers when they did not choose him as the American League Most Valuable Player; and

WHEREAS, Cal Raleigh and Mariners center fielder Julio Rodríguez were named to the all-MLB first team and Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo and closer Andrés Muñoz were named to the second team; and

WHEREAS, Mariners President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto was named Baseball America Executive of the Year in December; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate congratulate the 2025 Seattle Mariners on winning the American League West Division and coming so close to finally reaching the World Series, and congratulate Cal Raleigh on his historic Mariners Nation MVP season.