Since 2024, The Seattle Mariners have run a mascot salmon race in the middle of the 7th inning at every home game. The mascots are Sockeye, King, Silver and Humpy. In all those games, Humpy has never won. The loveable loser had become a fan favorite.
Fast forward to the 2025 American League Division Series between the Mariners and the Detroit Tigers. The series was tied 2 games to 2. In the winner take-all game 5, the game went into extra innings. After the Mariners got the Tigers out in the top of the 15th inning, Mariners' management decided to run a second salmon race. In this race, Humpy quickly fell behind the other salmons and looked like he would lose again. In the race, the other 3 salmons ran into each other, Humpy passed them up and won the race! The fans went crazy!! In the bottom of the 15th inning, the Mariners loaded the bases and with one out, Jorge Polanco hit a single to right field driving in the winning run. We like to think the Mariners were inspired by Humpys' come-from-behind victory and the enthusiastic crowd. The box score will not show Humpys' contribution to the win, but Mariner fans know how important he was.
Unfortunately, the Mariners lost to the Toronto Blue Jays in the American League Championship Series in game 7, coming up one game short of going to their first World Series. It was an amazing year and we'll be rooting for the Mariners and Humpy again next year.
About this cache: On a clear day you can see the top of Mt. Rainier from here. BYOP.
Congratulations to cachenscary and frisbee'r for thier shared FTF!