Oh ye of little faith.
The Seattle Mariners suffer through one disappointing season (OK, 14 straight disappointing seasons), and you think they’re going to turn right around and do it again. In our latest poll at HeraldNet.com, we asked what you expect from the 2016 edition of the team. The answer: not much.
Sadly, 44 percent see another long, disappointing summer on the horizon, while another 34 percent said they’ll win around half of their games. That’s a pretty sizable majority who think the M’s will be irrelevant yet again.
On the opposite side, 16 percent predict a long-awaited return to the playoffs; and as for reaching their first World Series, only 6 percent of our voters have that wildly optimistic view.
But spring is when we’re supposed to be wildly optimistic! Allow me to point to a few reasons they might contend:
- Jack Zduriencik’s reign of error as general manager is over. New GM Jerry Dipoto has shown a refreshing fondness for math – a major improvement, since it turns out that the object of the game is to score more runs than the other guys.
- Sports Illustrated says Seattle is poised to be one of the surprise teams this season. SI is never wrong, as evidenced by this year’s Ravens-Packers Super Bowl.
- We have Felix Hernandez and his luxurious blond goatee on our side. The Mariners can’t squander the entire career of one of the game’s greatest pitchers, can they? No, seriously, can they?
- Right now, as we speak, the Mariners are tied for first place. You can look it up.
The M’s have the toughest early-season schedule in the American League, and if they can hold it together, you never know. They might even keep it interesting until the traditional end of baseball season, known in Seattle as Labor Day.
— Doug Parry, parryracer@gmail.com; @parryracer
Actor Chris Pratt is raffling off a chance to spend a day with him on the set of “Guardians of the Galaxy 2.” For our next poll, we’d like to know if any other local celebrity would be your top choice.
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