Top Mariners Rivalries

One thing about Seattle Sports that I have always felt was missing is rivalries. Our isolation and general badness has prevented us up in the great northwest from developing real rivalries. Over the next few days I will attempt to do my part to fix the problem by listing the various Seattle teams top "rivals" and why we should hate them. Today I will start with the Mariners.

10. Boston Red Sox: They make the list because I hate their fans.

9. Baltimore Orioles: The Orioles make the list because the knocked what was perhaps the most talented Mariners team ever out in the first round back in 1997. The Mariners who were anchored by Griffy, Johnson, and Rodriguez were knock out in four games in the first round of the playoffs, making it the worst playoff performance ever by a Mariner team.

8. Toronto Blue Jays: The Blue Jays were the Mariners partner expansion team back in 1977, and preceded to make the Mariners look horrible for the first 15 years of their existence. By the mid 1980s while the Mariners were stuck in mediocrity to downright awfulness, the Blue Jays had become perennial contenders and eventually won back to back world series in 92 and 93. Post strike Mariners have gotten the better end of the stick, with the Jay stuck behind the Yankees and Red Sox. Mariners and Blue Jays also compete for fans in western Canada.

7. Milwaukee Brewers: The Brewers came into being as the Seattle Pilots only to have the team taken away from us by now commissioner Bud Selig after only one year in Seattle.

6. San Diego Padres: An artificial rivalry, but the MLB says we are "natural rivals" and we share the same spring training complex.

5. Cleveland Indians: Almost every years that the M's have been good (with the exception of 2002 and 2003) the Indians have been good also. The Mariners and the Indians have played each other twice in the playoffs with them ending the Mariners miracle season in 95 and almost pulling off the upset in 01. That being said the Indians are my favorite team besides the M's.

4. Texas Rangers: From 1996 to 1999 the Rangers were the Mariners biggest opponent in the AL West, with the Rangers having the upper hand by winning the division in 1996, 1998, and 1999. Probably the biggest reason to hate the rangers is them signing Alex Rodriguez to that ridiculous contract, taking him away from the Mariners and accelerating the rise in salaries.

3. New York Yankees: I hate to put them this high since we probably wouldn't make the Yankees top 15 rivals, but there is good reason to hate them if you are a Mariners fan. Out of the Mariners four postseasons, we have played the Yanks in three of them. The first time in 95 was the teams greatest postseason triumph. The mariners loss the first two games to get within one game of elimination, but the Mariners came back to win the last three, including a series winning walk-off double in the 10th inning by Edgar Martinez in game five. The last two playoff series against the Yankees wernt so good for the Mariners, with the Yankees beating us back to back years in the ALCS in 2000 and 2001.

2. Oakland A's: The A's have been the ultimate Mariner killers over the years. The A's were the Mariners main competition during the 2000 to 2003 seasons, and were the only team to win a series in the regular season against the 116 win Mariners. The most striking display of Mariner ineptitude against the A's came in 2006 where the Mariners went 2-17 against the A's effectively giving the division to them.

1. Los Angeles Angels: The Angels are from perhaps the most evil hole on the west coast, Orange County. Several times throughout the M's history the Mariners and the Angels have had quite good races for the playoffs. Last year the M's fought tooth to tooth with the Angels for the division before a September collapse. In 2002 the Angels helped deny the M's a playoff spot in spite of the Mariners winning 93 games. And of course there was 95 when a the Angels collapsed down the stretch and the Mariners made an incredible run to force an one game playoff game for the division championship, which the Mariners won.