Walk-off homer ends longest playoff drought in U.S. sports, a breakdown

Name: Walk-off homer ends longest playoff drought in U.S. sports, a breakdown
Description: Jomboy breakdown: Walk-off homer ends longest playoff drought in U.S. sports, a breakdown

MLB

What Happened

The Seattle Mariners are on the verge of ending the longest active playoff drought in major U.S. sports. Cal Raleigh, the Mariners' 25-year-old catcher, steps to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning with the game tied. The crowd at T-Mobile Park is electric, knowing a victory will clinch the Mariners' first playoff berth since 2001. Raleigh falls behind 3-1 in the count against the opposing pitcher, who has been effectively mixing his pitches. On a 3-2 count, the pitcher tries to sneak another slider past Raleigh, but the young catcher is ready. Raleigh gets his bat on the ball and drives it deep to right field for a walk-off, game-winning home run. As Raleigh rounds the bases, the emotion overwhelms him. His eyes widen and he bites his lip, taking in the magnitude of the moment. Rounding second base, he realizes he's just sent the Mariners to the playoffs for the first time in over two decades. Raleigh pumps his fist and chest-bumps his teammates waiting at home plate, their smiles stretching from ear to ear. The Mariners' dugout empties as they mob Raleigh, celebrating the end of their playoff drought. Veteran starting pitcher Luis Castillo grabs a bucket of gum and showers his teammates. Infielder Ty France tries to join in but misses the target, covering outfielder Adam Frazier in gum instead. The players continue the raucous celebration, crowning Raleigh with a bucket on his head. Mariners manager Scott Servais embraces his players, overcome with pride. He pulls aside star rookie Julio Rodríguez and has a serious conversation, emphasizing the significance of this moment. Rodríguez and veteran Eugenio Suárez exchange an emotional hug, celebrating the culmination of their hard work. As the Mariners savor their hard-fought victory, the fans in attendance soak in the atmosphere. They know they're witnessing history, the end of a torturous drought that has haunted the franchise for over two decades. This walk-off home run by Cal Raleigh will be etched in Mariners lore forever, a moment that will live on in the hearts of this long-suffering fan base.

the longest playoff drought out of the

major four U.S Sports has been broken 21

years that's how long it's been since

the Mariners made the playoffs this

guy's like yeah that's a long time they

need one more win and they clinch a

playoff berth let's go Cal and they're

cheering for Cal Raleigh because he's up

with two outs and a tie game in the

ninth

they just need to win it this one is

brought to you by SeatGeek now that

first pitch was a change up catcher

discards the ball goes back to the

change up makes a nice pitch kind of

Falls catch says you okay you okay the

next pitch the 2-0

that's called a slider it looks kind of

like a change up to me but let's watch

it again now 2-0 you're going to throw

a pitch that you want to put in the zone

because you don't want to fall behind

3-0 so pitchers usually would refer to

this as a fastball count but if you have

a pitch that you like more than your

fastball

you throw that So Cal sells out for the

fastball but he gets a slider too oh

this guy's biting his nails he's nervous

he's no come on Cal he's excited glimmer

of hope and this young kid's eyes he

doesn't know what the drought's all

about he just knows the Mariners are

good fastball now he's 3-1 now 3-1 is

the kind of the same count that 2-0 is a

fastball count

So Cal even though he threw the slider

2-0 he's sitting fastball again gets the

slider again sells out for the fastball

now it's three and two his kid he

believes

Look Hope in one eye fear and the other

Oscar doesn't like the noise but he's

excited about what he's gonna see

three two

the pitcher threw that slider

and he throws it again he threw it 2-0

he threw it 3-1 now he's throwing it 3-2

Cal fouls enough to stay alive he takes

a walk he's like all right I think this

guy's gonna probably throw that pitch

again

instead of sitting fastball why don't I

change my Approach come play his game

I'll just make sure I get down scoop it

out I don't want to watch I don't want

to watch I don't want to watch I want to

watch so bad I don't want to watch

what's he gonna go another 3-2 he throws

the same pitch Cal goes down and gets it

and bangs it in the right field for the

walk-off win to send him to the

postseason for the first time in 21

years he bat flips and now watch his

eyes and his face says what up to his

teammates pounds the chest high five

pounds the chest but when he rounds

second it's all gonna start hitting him

and he's like oh

holy [ __ ]

uh watch that again

it just looks around holy [ __ ] I did it

oh my God now here's the Dugout

celebration top rail jumped up

Rodriguez Gilbert homegrown kids getting

them to the postseason amazing and

they're gonna wait for him to round

third and come celebrate big old high

five he's gonna take the helmet off toss

that's it over baby now it gets

important Luis Castillo they traded for

him at the deadline bottom left of your

screen he's got a bucket of gum and it's

just a beautiful toss lights up the sky

like fireworks perfect timing

gets great distance down on all their

heads the other bucket of gum it's in Ty

France's right hand he's got a different

strategy he's just going to get up close

and dump it although he misses he misses

cow and he gets it all over Adam

Frazier's head but then they put the

bucket on his head Castillo on your

right he's going to take his hat off of

his head and then he's going to use his

left hand with the ring on it to secure

the bucket make sure it doesn't fall off

you got to Crown Him

with the bucket and it's a team effort

to Crown a guy when there's that much

movement

speaking of movement look at this bat

flip boom boom boom that is a long toss

and then Haggerty with the helmet way up

in the sky neither of those came down

and hit anyone and they're celebrating

what a [ __ ] shot

everyone's gonna celebrate and then he

gets crowned the real crown and he

doesn't look like a doofus at all

wearing that thing he looks super cool

and you know it so don't even begin to

say otherwise and then they do the team

dance everyone does the team dance the

win dance and then they're going to get

back in the middle and it's more head

grabbing and hat grabbing and hair

rubbing and pushing and shoving and

congratulations and we got to have some

words with the manager and say hey

you deserve this you did a great job and

I'm proud of you I manager says thank

you thank you then the manager is going

to make his rounds Scott and he's going

to say uh you know love you big guy and

then he's going to get serious with

j-rod and he's gonna hat pull the Hat

pull that's his serious tone look Cal

hat pull let him know you're serious

okay Suarez big old hug maybe we missed

the Hat pull fist pump high five no

misses hug I think that guy went for a

handshake let's watch it again

ready so fist pump handshake nah I'm

gonna slap your hand kind of misses and

then a big old hug I like that that guy

jumps into the hug sorry I don't know

his name Mariners strange you have to

leave it in the comments I apologize

you're probably mad at me gum everywhere

gum and then a Live sign edit nothing

like a Live sign edit I don't have to

believe because we did it what good

handwriting to do that on the fly in the

middle of the celebration good seats to

take it in they get the postseason game

now if you want to go there there might

be tickets available I don't know check

out zekeek you can use code John Boy and

get 20 off your first order and you can

be a Live sign editor because there's

nothing cooler in sports than editing a

What Happened

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