If you’re a Mariners fan, go ahead and rip your heart out and toss it into Puget Sound, because this one’s going to sting for a long time. The 2025 Seattle Mariners were built for October. The team had swagger, grit, talent, and — in Cal Raleigh — a switch-hitting powerhouse who straight-up rewrote the record books. Sixty home runs in the regular season. Five more in the playoffs. And yet… heartbreak. Brutal, soul-crushing, Game-7 heartbreak.
Cal Raleigh’s Historic Season Ends in Heartbreak
Top of the fifth, Game 7 of the ALCS. Mariners up 2-1. Cal Raleigh steps to the plate and launches one into the right-field seats — his 65th home run of the season, and his last. That solo shot gave Seattle a 3-1 lead and had the city on the edge of eruption. You could feel the World Series coming. But baseball, man… baseball can be cruel.
Bottom of the seventh. Two on. One out. Mariners fans are holding their breath. Then George Springer — former postseason hero, still doing postseason hero things — unloads a three-run bomb off a hanging slider. Just like that, Toronto leads 4-3. And just like that, the dream begins to unravel.
Seattle couldn’t answer. The final out came, the Blue Jays mobbed each other on the field, and Cal Raleigh… well, he stood at his locker, fighting back tears. “I hate to use the word failure,” he said. But he did. And that tells you everything about the expectations in that clubhouse.
From MVP Favorite to Emotional Exit
This wasn’t some lucky underdog run. This was a team built to win it all. They expected to win it all. They were a game away. And if you ask Cal? That’s the line between success and failure.
Now, don’t get it twisted — Cal Raleigh may walk away with the AL MVP when the dust settles. Sixty bombs, leadership behind the plate, clutch October homers? He earned every bit of that buzz. But awards don’t erase that kind of loss. Not when you’re that close.
The Mariners had the Blue Jays on the ropes. Up 3-2 in the series. Up 3-1 in Game 7. It was there. And they couldn’t close the door. That’s the kind of loss that echoes. That lingers. That becomes part of a team’s DNA — for better or worse.
Toronto Celebrates, Mariners Regroups
As for Toronto? They’re dancing their way into a date with the Dodgers, starting Friday night. But back in Seattle? It’s gonna be a long, painful offseason — and it starts with Cal Raleigh, heartbroken, honest, and already thinking about the next shot.
