The Associated Press
M's pitcher John Halama (left), shortstop Carlos Guillen (center) and second baseman Bret Boone contemplate their position against the New York Yankees during in the sixth inning of the American League Championship Series on Monday night. The Yankees blew the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.

M's won't come home again

Yankee juggernaut ends a season of promise

GAIL WOOD, THE OLYMPIAN

Originally published October 23

OLYMPIA -- And now, Lou Piniella and his Mariners share another distinction with the only other ball club to win 116 teams in a season:

To lose in the playoffs, falling short of a World Series championship.

Like the 1906 Chicago Cubs, the Mariners won 116 games. And like the Cubbies of Evers-to-Tinker-to-Chance fame, the Mariners' season ended earlier than they had hoped Monday, losing 12-3 to the New York Yankees. It gave the Bronx Bombers their 38th pennant as they won the best-of-seven series with Seattle 4-1 on Monday in New York.

Seattle's lone win was a 14-3 victory in Game 3.

"It's a new season," Piniella said after his team won the American League West Division by 15 games.

He knew regular-season victories would bring no guarantees in the playoffs, no bonus points or head starts. For the second year in a row, Seattle would lose in the American League Championship Series to the Yankees.

Seattle, with its "two outs, so what" slogan, had a knack for scoring runs in bunches during the regular season, averaging nearly six a game. Timely hits from a seemingly nightly rotation of clutch hitters came to the Mariners' rescue for the first 162 games of the season. But runs came grudgingly against a Yankees pitching staff of Andy Pettitte, Roger Clemens and Mariano Rivera.

Seattle won six of nine games against the Yankees this season, taking four of five in New York. But in the playoffs, the Mariners' bats were quiet, going bankrupt with runners in scoring position.

For the Yankees, it's their fourth straight trip to the World Series. New York is the first team to win four straight pennants since the 1960-64 Yankees. History, 26 World Series championships and a rich playoff past were on the Yankees' side.

After losing 4-2 in Game 2, Mariner Bret Boone admitted that. "They've been here before," he said. "They have a certain feeling once they get into postseason."

Seattle will have to wait another year for a chance to add to its playoff history, a chance at a World Series. So ends a remarkable season that for Mariners fans was fun while it lasted.

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