A first-time champion is gonna be crowned in this year’s Fall Classic, no doubt. While the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays get ready to duke it out for their first World Series title ever, it’s a gut punch for us here in the Emerald City: our Seattle Mariners are officially the only team left in MLB with zero pennants to their name.
Seriously, after the 2023 Texas Rangers finally got their ring, there were five teams still on the outside looking in. That was the Brewers, the Rays, the Colorado Rockies, the San Diego Padres, and yeah, our Mariners. Now, with Milwaukee and Tampa Bay squaring off, one of them is coming off the list. That leaves us, the Rockies, and the Padres still chasing, but here’s the real kicker from the stats: our Mariners are the only team among them with absolutely zero pennants, like ever. The source says we came “tantalizingly close” last year, which, if you’re a fan, you already know was a heartbreaker we’re still recovering from. It makes watching these other teams get their shot sting a little more, right?
“Harvey’s Wallbangers” Had Their Shot in ’82
The Brewers, though they haven’t won it all, have been to the big dance before. You gotta go back to 1982 when they faced off against a seriously decorated St. Louis Cardinals squad, who already had 17 pennants and eight World Series titles. Those Brewers, affectionately called “Harvey’s Wallbangers” under manager Harvey Kuenn, were legit. They won 95 games in the regular season, then took down the Angels three games to two in the ALCS. And get this, back then, the Brewers were actually in the American League!
That 1982 Brewers team was stacked. We’re talking five future Hall of Famers: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Ted Simmons, Rollie Fingers, and Don Sutton. Talk about a squad! They introduced themselves to the World Series with authority, too. Game 1 was a flat-out blowout, a 10-0 domination behind Mike Caldwell’s shutout. Yount and Molitor were tearing it up, combining for 9 for 12, and Simmons even blasted a homer. The Cardinals snagged Games 2 and 3, but the Brewers fought back hard in Game 4 with a monster comeback. They were down 5-1 in the seventh and then just exploded for six runs. Yount and Gorman Thomas both had two-RBI singles in that huge inning. They even took Game 5, with Yount going 4 for 4 with a double and a homer. But then, the Cardinals returned home, blew them out 13-1 in Game 6, and just ripped out their hearts in Game 7. The Brewers had a 3-1 lead in the middle of the sixth! But a Keith Hernandez bases-loaded single, followed by a George Hendrick single, and suddenly it was 4-3 Cardinals. St. Louis tacked on two more in the eighth, and Hall of Famer Bruce Sutter closed it out with a two-inning save in the ninth. Talk about a brutal way to lose your first shot.
The Rays’ Rough Start to the Show
Over on the American League side, the Tampa Bay Rays had a much rougher road to their first World Series appearance in 2008. The franchise started as the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998, and for nearly a decade, they were pretty much the league’s punching bag. From their start through 2007, they finished in last place in the AL East every single year, except for 2004. That year, they snuck into fourth place with 70 wins, which was actually their best record ever up to that point at 70-91. They were a laughingstock, no joke. So, when they made it to the World Series in 2008, it was a huge turnaround for a team that had known nothing but struggle for so long.
So, come Halloween, one of these teams is going to make history. One of them is finally gonna hoist that trophy for the first time ever. And while we’ll be watching, rooting for some good baseball, it’s impossible not to think about our own M’s. We know what it’s like to chase that dream, to be tantalizingly close, and to still be waiting. Let’s hope our time in the Fall Classic, and holding that trophy, is coming soon. Go Mariners!
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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