Mariners lose and I heard it in a love song

They say that jealousy is love and hate at the same time. By "they" I mostly mean that Toronto's Own, Aubrey Drake Graham, said that in a song I heard lately. It is in this way that I know I am not jealous of the Kansas City Royals. I do not have the love part for them. If I was going to say one thing though, it's that I cannot wait for the moment where we get to celebrate the way they did tonight, in their home stadium. However, their moment came against my beloved Hometown Nine and for that trespassing there is no forgiving.

Honestly, I thought I'd be more bothered by the Kansas City celebrations. Bothered that Kendrys Morales would have his October moment, that Chris Young would be the forgotten man on a playoff team outside of Seattle, and that people could pretend Ned Yost is a genius for at least a few more weeks. Contrasted with Seattle's season, and what it was supposed to be, this could have been an arctic night. As it was, as the Ramirez twins, Rob Rasmussen, and the somehow still rostered Joe Beimel combined to allow nine runs, it felt like just another Mariners game.

There are nine games left in the season. It feels like a lot more and a lot less, and it is shocking to think that we are here. Which is sort of how this game felt. Until it started to fall apart in the bottom of the 6th, this game had the feel of "How are we not losing this game?" When James Paxton leaves in the second with a torn fingernail and every ball flies towards Lorenzo Cain, the fact that it was tied up before Hosmer sent a bad Rasmussen pitch over the wall seemed a dream. There were even a couple of moments that felt like maybe we could pull it out. When Kyle flipped the ball to Ketel who tagged out a Still Very Slow, Still Very Bad at Running the Bases Kendrys at third base in the bottom of the third, I thought, "Maybe not us. Maybe not." When Brad Miller managed to rip a double down the left field line and improbably scored a Not as Slow as You Thought Mark Trumbo from first, I thought, "Maybe us, though." It wasn't us. It wasn't us, guys.

At this point in the season, even the most steadfast Mariners fans have finally given up hope on the 2015 season. It is a very sad feeling, but the Mariners semi-officially tossed in the towel after yesterday's walk-off loss.

Taijuan Walker "most likely done"'for season. Would have started tomorrow if Mariners had won last night.

— Greg Johns (@GregJohnsMLB) September 24, 2015

Coming into this year, there were SO MANY reasons to believe in '15. Robbie. Felix! Nelson Cruz. Sweet Prince Kyle Seager. But things just never came to fruition. Fortunately, all of these gentlemen will also be back next season. But now we also have a Marte Partay to look forward to at short. And maybe a semi-competent first baseman for the first time in many seasons in the form of Mark Trumbo. (This is a weird thing for me to type, but with his wRC+ of 131 since the beginning of July, Trumbo has graduated from the moniker of Trumpo.) It's always a bummer to give up on a current season, but there are plenty of reasons to be excited about 2016.

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Outside of this blog, the game that just happened will likely be looked on in the future as a positive for the team we just lost to. That is a bummer, but only for like, a couple hours. How we can look at it from our side is what we have in store. One day we will dance upon the grass and the dirt. Until then, Ocotober 4th we will dance upon the concrete of the Pen and we would love to have you there. In life we are owed nothing but a death. The tombstone even we must earn. Earn this season. Come, see us. We can laugh and cry together.