Mariners fans feeling ‘sad’ but looking ahead to next season

The Seattle Mariners fell short in their bid for postseason play.

In the end, it didn’t matter whether they won or lost.

The New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox both won before the game against the Los Angeles Angels ended in a 7 to 3 loss.

That, of course, is not what fans hoped for.

They streamed out of T-Mobile park, these Mariners fans, hoping the season would last just a bit longer. It didn’t, and that left them disappointed but certainly unbowed.

“I feel like they’re going to do it next year,” said Ben Chapman of Seattle. “Yeah, I’m pretty excited. Yeah, I’m glad that they’re doing well.”

“I think it’s sad,” said Stacey Jones of Seattle. “But there’s next year. And that’s the most important thing. We’ve finally got something solid going on.”

That optimism hung over the entirety of this cloudy Sunday. After all, the last three games of the regular season were sold out. Even though the team was down early, fans were still believers. The Mariners came back to win nearly 50 games this season.

“You gotta believe,” said Nikhil Kamath of Seattle. “That’s the whole point of this thing. I’m actually not even that nervous. This team has done it so many times. I have full faith they’re going to fight to the end.”

And all of it was pretty lucrative for those whose livelihoods depend on how long these sports seasons last.

“Absolutely,” said Ronnie Rain, a hip-hop artist who moonlights as a pedicab driver. “Any time the team’s doing good, people are happier. There are more people coming to the game. They’re spending more money. They’re getting drunker, that kind of thing. It all ties in.”

It’s not as though there weren’t some special moments during the game, with some glimmers of hope that the Mariners might come back to win yet again. But it was not to be.

Still, these fans said they see a bright future.

“We’re happy about this year. You know what I mean?” said Brady Lehman, a Mariners and Seahawks fan. “It was a good experience. We’re happy to be where we’re at. We made it to 162. It’s game 162. So what about next year. You know what I mean?”

And that is a feeling that is abroad in Mariner land — that next year will be this team’s year.

KIRO 7′s sports director Chris Francis said it’s just 140 days to spring training. Surely, a lot of other people are already counting down the days.

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