Our home team boys packed up their stuff and left town in September. But 25 ex-Mariners didn’t go home when the 2020 postseason started. Instead, gracing the rosters of new squads, they girded their respective loins for a World Series run. Only one would earn the ring. But would that be enough to garner the coveted Ex-Mariner of the Year (Xmoty)? Let’s revisit the top candidates.
Alert and devoted reader Steve from Spokane suggested way back in August that the opted-out Felix Hernandez was a fabulous candidate for Xmoty honors. But Steve, we said, Felix didn’t even play this year. Took himself off the roster. It was the Rona. Exactly, said Steve. And if Atlanta goes deep in October without him, doesn’t he deserve recognition for staying the hell out of the way? Great point, Steve. The Braves went on to lead the NLCS 3 games to 1 but coughed up the series to the Dodgers. How might that have played with the King in the house? Steve seems to know the answer. We’re not so sure over here.
Chris Taylor, unlike any 2020 Mariner or any of his fellow ex-Mariners, went home in November with a World Series ring on his finger. Taylor was a contender for the 2017 Xmoty, as documented right here at Playin’ in the Dirt. And that ring makes him a fan favorite again… but his role in the wildest play of the 2020 World Series… does it make him a near-goat sympathetic hero?
Oh boy that boot… goat or hero? Can a guy be both?
Well… think about this. A man who could barely hit as a Mariner goes south to LA and suddenly makes 193 plate appearances in four consecutive postseasons including three World Series, and well, other than Mike Montgomery and Fernando Rodney, how often does an ex-Marnier even get a ring? Hush about Varitek. It still hurts.
The Brewers’ Daniel Vogelbach went into the postseason as our personal favorite over here. I mean first of all, last year’s Brewers had nearly as many ex-Seattle players as the 1970 Brewers. Plus, you just gotta love a guy who struggles to a .196 in five Mariner seasons but steps right up to .328 as a Brewer. It’s a Tayloresque metamorphosis and, like we did when Taylor busted onto the scene in LA, it makes us wonder just what the hell is wrong with our hitting coaches down at the Pink Palace. And even though they went out 0-2 to the Dodgers in the Wild Card round, you gotta be proud of the latest iteration of the original Seattle MLB franchise, 50 years after Bud Selig stole the Pilots from us.
Who ya got in this bracket? Next up, the Ross Eversoles/Kentucky Industrial League bracket.
Vote in the comments. Thanks for reading.
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