Mariners' Win Lifts Seattle Fog

SEATTLE -- The taxi driver was a native of Jordan and a recent convert to baseball. What impressed him most about the first postseason series played here was not so much what the Mariners accomplished on the field but the joy they brought to his adopted city. The celebration of the team's advance to the American League Championship Series was not limited to the drab confines of the Kingdome.


In the aftermath of an emotionally taxing victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday night, the streets in the adjacent neighborhood of Pioneer Square were crowded with revelers who toasted passing cars and each other. Drivers honked their horns in acknowledgement and generally behaved in uncharacteristic fashion, especially for citizens of a city where over half of them voted last month against building a new ballpark.


"Many call in sick," the cabbie said to his passenger on the morning after. "That is to be expected. People party until 2 o'clock. They have good time. No damage. Sport is supposed to bring people together, yes?"


It is and it did in numbers that belied the economic condition of baseball, the absence of a collective bargaining agreement and a commissioner, the hangover from an unpopular strike and the tepid support historically generated by the Mariners. The legacy of the five-game series was that it not only revitalized the season in New York, however briefly, but may have saved the Seattle franchise. The pressure on Washington state legislators to finance a new ballpark for the team increases with each success, despite the plebiscite.


And the manner of the Mariners' triumph, rallying from defeats in the first two games and overcoming deficits in all three potential elimination contests at the Kingdome, was an elixir for all of baseball.


The sour note was that Major League Baseball blew its TV coverage, no question. There should have been games on Thursday, day games, all of which would have allowed the country to see all of these playoffs. But most of the baseball seen last week was exceptional.


The short opening series may, one year, hurt the best teams, although it didn't this year. But the short series also forced the teams to play with increased intensity. Lose Game 1 of a seven-game series, and you know there's plenty of time to recover. Losing Game 1 in the Division Series was a killer.


That's why Ken Hill, scheduled to pitch Game 4 for Cleveland, was throwing in relief in the opener, why Tim Belcher threw in extra innings for the Mariners, why Colorado manager Don Baylor ran out of pinch hitters in the first game. They had to win, immediately. They had to play hard. They had to play good baseball to survive. For those reasons, the entire sport benefited.


Now the league championship series, opening Tuesday with Cleveland at Seattle and Atlanta at Cincinnati, suddenly have to live up to the first round, which 10 days ago nobody seemed to want.


The Mariners will be starting a 22-year-old rookie pitcher, Bob Wolcott, in Game 1 of the ALCS.


Wolcott (3-2), who began the year in Double A Port City, only made the post-season roster after an injury to Greg Hibbard. But after ace Randy Johnson won 6-5 in relief in Game 5, Wolcott was tagged for the start.


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Quickly quelling speculation regarding a managerial change, the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday rehired Tom Lasorda for the 1996 season, his 20th at the helm. He was summoned to Dodger Stadium by owner Peter O'Malley, who said a lot of thought was given to the decision during a lengthy morning meeting with vice president Fred Claire.


(Newsday, The Baltimore Sun, LAT)