Not since the 2003 season have the Seattle Mariners been a consistent contending ball club.
The Mariners won 93 games that season. It was a fourth consecutive year above the 90 victory mark for the team at that time.
But in the 13 full seasons since then, Seattle has not reached that 90 victory mark even once. In fact, a half-dozen times since then, the Mariners have lost more than 90 games. Twice they sank past the century mark in defeats.
There has been some hope in recent years. Seattle won 87 games in 2014. Then last season, their 86 victories left manager Scott Servais and the Mariners just three games shy of an AL Wildcard playoff berth.
Seattle began 2017 with hopes of reaching the MLB postseason for the first time since losing back-to-back in the ALCS in 2000 and 2001.
But a 2-8 start buried the team early. When they began the Memorial Day weekend by getting shut out in back-to-back games at Fenway Park, the M’s had fallen to 21-29 on the season.
