Loving A Losing Team

Let's talk baseball. 

Yankee fans rejoice, Ichiro is now wearing pinstripes. 

Mariners fans, start digging your own personal six foot grave, because our last good offensive player is now traded to the evil empire. 

I am sad to say that I am a bigtime Mariners fan. 

Right now I wish I wasn't.

So long Ichiro (taken by me at the game Sept 2011)

Yeah I know, growing up an M's fan is setting yourself up for failure. We've never had a World Series appearance let alone a ring. We haven't even had a winning season in what, five years now? I can't even keep track. And any good player we ever get we trade away. Usually to the Yankees. Which is probably why all Mariners fans legitimately HATE the Yankees almost as much as we hate our own front office. 

However, I still grew up loving the M's. And there were some good times. I was a pre-teen in the glory days of Ken Griffey Jr, Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner and Randy Johnson and the incredible 1995 post-season. I was a high school junior during the record setting 2001 season where we won 116 wins - the most in major league history (p.s. - Ichiro was Rookie of the Year in 2001). 

Jake and I grew up worshiping the Mariners. Even in our adulthood we consider ourselves hardcore fans

And.....that pretty much sums it up. A few more postseason appearances but not by much. Safeco Field doesn't really fill up anymore, and the only real crowd pleaser is when King Felix pitches. And Ichiro.

HOWEVER, a lot of us are still big time Mariners fans. We've committed too many years and too much hope into our home team. So I swear by the M's still and my entire upstairs hallway is covered in memorabilia and I'm raising my poor kids into little M's fans (a new age form of child abuse). (I also proudly had a giant Mariners sticker on my truck window until certain husbands scraped them off with an ice scraper during a winter storm). 

Raising them right (or wrong?) Sept 2011

But, the news of Ichiro leaving us for the evil empire after over ten years is pouring a lot of salt in the open wound of yet another losing season. How much more can us Mariners fan put up with before completely abandoning them?

Especially since all we got for a future hall of famer is two double-A MINOR league pitchers and a wad of cash. Really? Why didn't we just wrap him up with festive paper and a big bow and say "here you go for FREE!" 

I'm a pretty sore angry baseball fan tonight. 

Boo. 

(Maybe I should start rooting for the Rangers on a regular basis. At least Nolan Ryan (one of my childhood heroes) is the president and they can't trade him) 

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