Our flurry of October baseball was full of hope and glory and heartbreak and history. But in the end the Seattle Mariners are who we thought they were. They were in fact the team we’ve seen them to be over and over again through the regular season. They were unable to escape themselves.
Going into their own postseason the Seattle Sounders have to answer the same question of themselves; are they the sum of their mistakes and deeply regretting what could have been, or are they a Voltron assembled from many strengths?
It’s eerie the parallels that Seattle’s favorite teams have experienced in 2025. In the same way Mariners had a propensity to leave men on base to end an inning, and especially loading up the bases to do nothing with it, Sounders have far too many times been inexplicably unable to secure the bag. And through the inconsistency they have still reached a number of franchise milestones including being the first MLS team to win every possible trophy.
Over a full five games in the American League Division Series and then a further seven games in the AL Championship Series, the Mariners got as close to the World Series as they ever have and simply left too many men on third base wanting. The glut of critical situations where the risks taken with baserunners or full-count swings were bungled just added up beyond recovering. When you have home run hitters on the field, you are always in the game but all too often those key players on the M’s didn’t tip the scales in opportune moments.
Over the course of a month this summer, the Sounders earned mercy whistles to end home games against two of the top-five ranked teams on the continent. I was in the lower bowl at the Leagues Cup Final and it was a superlative experience that I will be telling the story of for eternity. But this season has not all been sunshine and lollipops, and in stark contrast to the improved home wins total Brian Schmetzer wants us to be focusing on are the deflating blunders and three points that should have been:
- A 92+ own-goal in the first game of the season representing the second lost lead of the game to Charlotte.
- Going up 3-0 on Colorado at home only for them to come back to draw.
- Going up 2-0 on Galaxy who were at the bottom of the table and allowing them to come back to draw.
- Knifing Vancouver with back-to-back goals in the second half to take the lead and then letting them back in to earn a draw.
- I don’t want to talk about Atlanta…
Of late, Schmetz has pushed back on the narrative focus on this reputation of blown leads and he’s been attempting to change the subject to highlight the adversity this team has been through, the young leaders being minted, and the heightened level of coaching his staff have had to deliver in this year versus previous years. These are all notable parts of the story worth elucidating, but the fact remains the reputation has been earned based on results, and these results in particular are the games that loom as large as any from the season aside from those League Cup triumphs.
The away win at NYCFC on Decision Day was undeniably a huge step in the right direction and had the signals we were looking for going into the playoffs: the ability to win away from home through hardship and doing it with a non-first choice lineup against a good home team. But the reality is they again gave up a goal to tie the game after the 80th minute. The reality is they had just four other multi-goal games away from home in 2025 and those games were against the cellar dwellers of MLS: Galaxy, Atlanta, SKC and Houston. The reality is they were goose-egged by the four teams ahead of them in the West while playing away from home in the league.
These wearying facts of who Sounders have been this year beg the question: Should we expect anything different in the post season where they will likely need to play all of their games away after the first round? Are they really “the deepest team in MLS history” as dubbed by some? The Sounders still have a lot to prove. Playing at home all summer was a major advantage as well as a treat for the fans, but they don't have that to fall back on anymore.
Last week Cristian Roldan spoke about “manifesting” his USMNT arc and knowing he belonged in that elite group and willing that into a reality. The Sounders must do the same and take ownership of their own narrative in this moment. They did it in Club World Cup and came to understand they could hang with European teams from the highest levels. They recovered their dignity and then some versus Cruz Azul after being ignominiously beaten in CCC earlier in the year. Then they did it again to deny Messi hardware in a Cup Final.
At the close of the season, the eye test says the Sounders should be scoring more, that Paul Rothrock has a knack for being very wide open in the box, that Jesus and Jordan finally getting to start together has major implications. Corner Kick goals are suddenly back in style and Sounders have been prolific from open play in 2025. No team in MLS has more major tournament winning experience than this team and it's not close. Much like the Mariners we recognize this group of soccer players is overflowing with heart. This team's supporters are blessed with voluminous reasons to feel buoyant about the possibilities.
The inconsistent league team and the undefeated Leagues Cup team are both true reflections of who the Sounders fundamentally are in 2025. But which version is their truer self? Will they be who we've seen them to be this year particularly as the away team? Or will they muster the best version of themselves, as they've mostly managed to do in their biggest moments this year? I'm excited to find out.
