Karen's postseason primer

The baseball playoffs began today, so it's now time for, by request, the lowdown on who made the playoffs and which players on those teams once played for Your Seattle Mariners.

Interpret this information how you will; back in my youth, when the Chicago Cubs hadn't won a championship since 1908 and hadn't won a pennant since 1945, Chicago-based columnist Mike Royko posited that a predictive element for the postseason was "the ex-Cub factor," alleging that the team with the most former Chicago Cubs was at the greatest disadvantage because, once a Cub, always tainted with Cub cooties. Perhaps the "ex-M factor" is similar, given the Mariners' lack of a single pennant in their history.

So far. The M's are still in this year's mix, so maybe this is the year. In the words of Mr. Spock, "for everything, there is a first time."

Or, just use this to find some interest in the non-Mariner games this month. Whatever floats your boat, as it were.

Here are the twelve (ugh, twelve) teams to make the postseason tournament, starting with the lowest seed and moving up, and their respective ex-M factors:

 

Cincinnati Reds (83-79, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1½

The Reds backed into the postseason by the skin of their teeth with the third-worst record of any playoff team in history (1973 Mets: 82-79, 2005 Padres: 82-80). You'd figure them to be quickly eliminated this week, but this is the Rob Manfred era of wacky playoffs so who knows. Just a couple years ago, the 2023 bottom-seed Diamondbacks won the National League pennant despite an 84-win regular season, so we'll have to wait and see.

The Reds and Mariners have had a number of deals made between them over the past few years, yet Cincy has an ex-M factor of only 1½. With Jake Fraley having been lost to a waiver claim in August, only lefty closer Emilio Pagán (M's 2017) remains as a former-Mariner Red. Also on the roster, though, is infielder/outfielder Noelvi Marte, (M's minors 2021-22) who was the prize minor-league prospect dealt from the Mariners to Cincinnati in the 2022 trade for Luis Castillo.

 

Detroit Tigers (87-75, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 3

After dominating the American League for most of the year and building up a 15½ game lead in the AL Central, the Tigers imploded in September and finished second to Cleveland. But they still squeaked in as the third Wild Card by virtue of their tiebreaker record over identical-record Houston.

Detroit boasts(?) three former Mariners, all right-handed relief pitchers: Rafael Montero (M's 2021), Will Vest (M's 2021), and Paul Sewald (M's 2021-23). Montero was a free-agent bust for the M's in his one partial-season in Seattle (7.27 ERA) and traded away to Houston; he was a bit better this year between Houston, Atlanta, and finally Detroit (4.48 ERA in 59 games). Vest spent a couple of months in Seattle as a Rule 5 draftee but couldn't stick in the big-leagues and was thus sent back to the Tigers; since being called up for good, he's been a solid setup option out of the Detroit bullpen. Sewald, of course, was traded to Arizona for Dominic Canzone, Ryan Bliss, and Josh Rojas; he then signed a free-agent deal with Cleveland this year but was traded to Detroit in a deadline deal this past July. He's only seen action in four games as a Tiger thus far.

 

Boston Red Sox (89-73, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1

Boston wasn't expected to be particularly good this year, and through June they were living down to expectations as a sub-.500 team. But they caught fire in the second half, going 47-29 from July 1 through the end of the season. They finished third in the AL East, but in this era that isn't a deal-breaker.

Boston's sole ex-Mariner is infielder Abraham Toro (M's 2021-22). Though not active in the Wild Card round, he could be placed on the roster if the Sox advance to the ALDS. Toro was great for about a month and a half with the M's after coming over from the Astros in an unpopular trade (for Kendall Graveman), then stank it up for the rest of his Seattle tenure, to the point where, during a game I attended with my Smiling Potatoes of Death softball teammates, he served as the Mariners' DH with an average of .130-something and when he was announced as "designated hitter Abraham Toro," my teammate Brian remarked, "well, now they're just using random words." The M's traded "Fatty Tuna" to the Brewers, for whom he spent most of a year in Triple-A; the Brewers traded him to Oakland, where he was shockingly good for a while before reverting to form; and he signed with Boston as a free agent for this year. He was mildly useful as a versatile defender while posting an unimpressive batting line of .239/.289/.371.

 

San Diego Padres (90-72, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 1

Among the great underachievers of recent years, the Padres seem to be staking a claim for the honor of who can spend the most money and not win a title of any kind while not being the New York Mets. Though only the 6th-highest in player payroll in 2025, over the last four years they've paid their players roughly $785M, the most for a non-Met team that won zero divisions or pennants (the Mets spent almost $1.3B to average 87 wins; avg. for MLB $662M). This is their third playoff appearance in five years, all as a Wild Card entrant; they were bounced out by the Phillies in ’22, the Dodgers last year, and I'd put a small amount of money on them being bounced out by the Cubs this time.

San Diego's sole ex-Mariner is pitcher Nestor Cortes (M's 2020) who is on the injured list with tendinitis but is eligible to be activated should the Padres advance. Though they probably don't want to do that. Cortes has made all of eight starts this year in stints for both the Brewers and Padres in between trips to the IL and wasn't good (6.29 ERA). Still better than his horrible five games with the M's, though.

 

Chicago Cubs (92-70, NL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 2½

The Cubs may well be the best of the Wild Card clubs this year, but as we know from the few years of experience with the Manfred Playoff Structure, that means little. Unlike the Red Sox, most of the Cubs' 2025 success came in the first half; they were in first place as late as July 27th but their barely-over-.500 performance post-All-Star Break couldn't keep up with the surging Brewers. Still, they're an exceptionally well-balanced team playing under one of the best managers working today in Craig Counsell.

Chicago's ex-M count would have been higher, but pitcher Chris Flexen  was cut mid-season and infielder Carlos Santana joined the team too late to be eligible for the playoffs. So they're left with these guys: infielder Justin Turner (M's 2024), a late-season rental for Seattle in their failed playoff push of ’24, and pitcher Matthew Boyd (M's 2022), a late-season rental for Seattle in their semi-successful playoff run in ’22. Turner seems to be on his last legs and didn't produce well in his bench role this season; Boyd, on the other hand, emerged as a top starter for the northsiders, going 14-8 (tops on the staff) with a 3.21 ERA (second-best to rookie Cole Horton's 2.87).

They also have pitcher Drew Pomeranz, who signed a free agent deal with the M's last year but spent just a month in their system at Triple-A before being dealt to the Cubs for the ever-popular cash considerations. Pomeranz had a pretty decent year out of the bullpen, his first big-league action since losing all of 2022 to injury.

 

New York Yankees (94-68, AL Wild Card): Ex-M factor 2

Yeah, they're back again. Though denied another division crown, they did match the Blue Jays for best American League record and are favored to advance past the WC round. This version of the Yanks has weaknesses (infield defense, relief pitching), but those are countered by Aaron Judge and a surprisingly decent starting rotation.

One key contributor has been half of their Ex-M Factor, late-season acquisition José Caballero (M's 2023). The infielder led the American League in stolen bases this year (49) and posted a .372 on-base mark since he was traded to New York. The M's got him as a prospect from Arizona in a deal for Mike Leake at the end of his career, then later dealt him to the Rays for Luke Raley. The Yankees got him for a prospect and a player to be named later on July 31st. The other ex-M is pitcher Luke Weaver (M's 2023), who was nothing to crow about in six weeks as a Mariner but has had flashes of brilliance as a Yankee since signing with them last year; in ’25 he's been pretty decent if sometimes shaky.

They also have reliever Mark Leiter, but it's not the same Mark Leiter that once toed the Kingdome mound, it's his son.

The Yankees have one other Mariner-related curiosity—bullpen coach Mike Harkey, who famously was Mariner owner George Argyros' choice for the first draft pick in 1987; Argyros had to be talked down from that by Seattle's scouting director, who lobbied hard for another guy, someone named George Kenneth Griffey Jr.

 

Cleveland Guardians (88-74, AL Central Champions): Ex-M factor 1

Cleveland was arguably even hotter than the Mariners were down the stretch, winning 24 of their final 31 games of the regular season to overtake the Tigers and claim the AL Central flag. And they did it despite having only two decent hitters in José Ramírez and Steven Kwan; overall, the Guards were 29th of the 30 MLB clubs in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. They scored the third-fewest runs in the bigs and had the fewest hits. Remarkable. You might think that means their pitching was elite, but it wasn't; they were just a little above average in most team pitching stats. They did it mostly by beating up on bad teams (20-6 vs. the White Sox and Twins, 14-8 vs. other last-place teams) and having the good luck of playing the Tigers six times (five wins) during their September hot streak. They're 13-23 against the non-Detroit playoff teams, which doesn't bode well for their chances to advance.

The sole ex-Mariner on their roster is reliever Matt Festa (M's 2018-23). Festa had a typical Festa year, serving as an OK option in middle relief.

The Guardians are managed by Steven Vogt, who was Seattle's bullpen coach in the one season between his long playing career (mostly with Oakland) and signing on to manage the Guardians last year. Cleveland's pitching coach, Carl Willis, spent three years in that job with the Mariners (2011-13).

 

 

Los Angeles Dodgers (93-69, NL West Champions): Ex-M factor 1

Well, they didn't run away with things like many thought they would before the season started, but LA is a formidable entrant to this postseason. Injuries hampered their pitching staff all year, and they still have a dozen names on the injured list, but all of their key players are healthy right now. They have elite bats in Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith, and Freddie Freeman; a Cy young candidate in Yoshinobu Yamamoto; and tons of experience with playoff veterans and no-doubt future Hall of Famers in Shohei, Freeman, Clayton Kershaw, and Mookie Betts.

Having jettisoned longtime Dodger and onetime Mariner Chris Taylor, they have only Teoscar Hernández (M's 2023) in the ex-M bucket. Teo had a subpar year for him, but still managed to crank out 25 homers. First base coach Chris Woodward played a few games for the M's in 2009-2010 and was a coach with the M's after that until 2015.

 

Seattle Mariners (90-72, AL West Champions)

The Ex-M Factor doesn't really apply here. But I'll toot the Mariners' horn some anyway.

Having won their first division title since the turn of the century, the M's are hungry for more and they've got just as good a shot at a pennant as anyone else. They cruised to the end of the season, winning 17 of 18 down the stretch to clinch their spot before dropping their last three when they didn't mean much. The vaunted Seattle starting rotation didn't really deliver this year, but they were good enough, and if not for Detroit's Tarik Skubal would have a Cy Young contender in Bryan Woo. The lineup stepped up over the last few seasons—how could it not when those years were plagued by manager Scott Servais and alleged hitting coach Jarret DeHart and this time they have Dan Wilson, Edgar Martínez, and Kevin Seitzer in those jobs—helped by the late-season addition of Josh Naylor. They've got three regulars with .340+ on-base marks (four if you count part-timer Dominic Canzone), the home-run and RBI leader, and a pretty solid bullpen.

They made the playoffs on the strength of the season's bookends—16-9 in April, 17-8 in September—while holding their own the rest of the time (two games over .500 in other months). As Jorge Polanco and J.P. Crawford go, so go the Mariners? Those two also were red-hot in April and September and up-and-way-down the rest of the time, but their September to Remember was largely thanks to Julio Rodríguez and Naylor, who put up a combined line of .314/.372/.525, and Raleigh, who posted an OPS over 1.000 in the month.

 

Philadelphia Philles (96-66, NL East Champions): Ex-M factor 1

The Phils have become a perennial power in the league, with two NL East flags and an NL pennant in four consecutive postseasons. They have the NL batting champ in Trea Turner, the NL home run and RBI leader in Kyle Schwarber, and one of the best pitchers nobody's ever heard of in Christopher Sánchez. And they play their home games in what might be my favorite ballpark if it weren't located in a blah sea of asphalt far from downtown Philadelphia.

The Ex-M Factor here is represented by pitcher Taijuan Walker (M's 2013-16, 2020). In his third year as a Phillie he held down the back end of the starting rotation plus made a few relief appearances. Though he never quite lived up to his prospect status, he's turned in a solid career and at 32 is maintaining that middle-of-the-road caliber performance.

 

Toronto Blue Jays (94-68, AL East Champions): Ex-M factor 2

The Mariners' expansion cousins overcame a poor start to take the East by the skin of their teeth. They reached first place in early July and never surrendered it, though had to settle for winning the division on a Manfred technicality. They depend on the supersons, Bo Bichette and Vlad Guerrero Jr., but plenty beyond those two can play; they lead baseball as a team in hits, batting average, and on-base percentage. Pitching is meh, but when you can outscore your pitching staff you're going to win some games.

Ex-Mariners on the Jays are infielder Ty France (M's 2020-2024) and reliever Yimi Garcia (M's 2024). Even money whether either will be on the roster when the Jays open their Division Series on Saturday. France came to the Jays as part of the Minnesota Twins' fire sale at the trading deadline, but he doesn't really have a role in Toronto; Vlad Jr. has first base locked down and it's been a while since France put in any time at third. He did bat a decent .277 in 94 ABs after the trade, offering some value off the bench. Garcia only appeared in ten games for Seattle as they made their unsuccessful run for the postseason last year, then returned to Toronto on a free agent deal this season.

 

 

Milwaukee Brewers (97-65, NL CENTRAL Champions): Ex-M factor 1

The former Seattle Pilots have been good for a long time, but never good enough to win the National League pennant. They do have one from their American League days (1982), but this stretch of Brew Crew success (eight postseason appearances in the last nine years) saw the NLCS only once (2018, lost to the Dodgers). This year's Milwaukee team is in a class of its own, though—best in the league in ERA, batting average, on-base, and steals. My kind of club.

The only ex-M on the Crew is utilityman Jake Bauers (M's 2021), who split ’21 between Cleveland and Seattle. He only hit .235 in 85 games this year, but walked 32 times to post a very respectable .353 OBP.

In the realm of near-connections, Milwaukee has both second baseman Bryce Turang and outfielder Daz Cameron. Bryce is the son of 1990s Mariner Brian Turang and is a much better player than his dad was. Daz, son of Mike, split the season between Milwaukee and Triple-A; he very much seemed to fit the modern Brewer mold in Triple-A but has yet to show much in the bigs. Not likely to make the playoff roster.

 

And there you go. I'd like to see the Mariners face their expansion cousins in the ALCS and then the M's take on their antecedants, the former Pilots, in the World Series. We shall see.

Tagged Baseball, Seattle Mariners, Posted on September 30, 2025 at 8:47PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

1 Comment

Last game of the year?

Eugenio Suárez strikes out to end last night's game

I attended one final regular season game at the ballpark by Elliott Bay last night, the first one of the year that basically didn't matter. With the results of other games around the league, the hometown Mariners were already assured of their second-seed spot in the American League playoffs and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers were already assured of their third-seeded spot in the National League playoffs. Would have been nice to win, but the M's failed to capitalize on their rallies in the late innings and lost 3-2.

Wasn't a great game. But it was a fun time anyway, made possible by Neal—thanks, Neal—and his generosity in gifting me a pair of raffle-won tickets that he couldn't use. Much appreciated, and I paid it forward somewhat by giving the other seat to another softballer from my umpiring world; last Sunday in my umping season finale I had been chatting with this fellow Woalter about how the asking price for tickets to the Dodger series was sky-high and thus he wasn't going. When Neal's offer came, I figured this was a good way to earn a little goodwill and get to know him a bit.

Neal's free seats were in the center field bleachers, which is not my favorite vantage to say the least; we were in pretty much straightaway center, so it wasn't bad for calling pitches, which I of course couldn't help but do with umpire reflexes. Otherwise, though, lousy view. Woalter and I were also surrounded on three sides by Dodger fans, which, OK, not as bad as Yankee or Red Sox fans but still slightly obnoxious.

Once again, this was a 6:40 start time, and once again the number of empty seats at 6:40 was vast compared to the number of empty seats at 7:10. Placing the start time closer to rush hour is not a good idea, you jerks.

I don't know how well this shows the empties, but just after first pitch (top) vs. about 7:10 (bottom), which had been the normal start time for years. Looked to me like it was about 20% empty at 6:40, basically full at 7:10.

Woalter and I talked about the World Baseball Classic—he's going to see Venezuela play next spring's WBC in Miami, I'd love to go to Tokyo to see Japan play but probably can't afford it—favorite players, how the experience of a game is different here from how it is in his homeland of Venezuela, why Josh Naylor is awesome, and whether or not José Altuve should be a Hall of Famer (he will be). My faves of Keith Hernandez, Willie McGee, Ichiro, and Marco Gonzales were a bit off from Woalter's picks of Andruw Jones, Franklin Guttierez, and Altuve, but we both appreciate great defense and success by smaller guys that aren't necessarily built for pro sports.

I also got a free vegan hot dog after I tried to pay for it with a gift card and essentially broke the register at this little concession cart. After several minutes of trying to make it work, they basically sent me on my way with "enjoy the game" and rebooted their system rather than work it out to charge my gift card. So that was nice, though I did miss the better part of an inning while they tried to fix it. Pretty decent hot dog, too.

Anyhow, not a bad way to potentially bid adieu to the ballpark for 2025. There will be playoff games, but whether I will attend is uncertain. My season ticket group will divvy up our regular seats and some very expensive extras sometime this week, and I will pass on the very expensive extras so my odds of getting a seat for next Saturday or Sunday are less than 50%. After that, there may or may not be ALCS games to go to with the same arrangement. Hopefully, I'll be back. If not, well, it was a fun season and I can give my tinnitus an offseason rest.

Tagged Baseball, Umping, Seattle Mariners, Posted on September 27, 2025 at 5:08PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

America's bloated obscenity

No notes.

 

Posted on September 26, 2025 at 5:05PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

Long time coming

As predicted yesterday and as doubted two weeks ago, they did it. Your Seattle Mariners are officially champions of the American League West for the fourth time ever and first time in 24 years. They clinched with a win that seemed inevitable from the get-go, with starting pitcher Luis Castillo turning in his best game of the year—perfect through 71/3 innings save for one pitch to Colorado DH Don't-Call-Me-Trent Crim that went over the center field fence for a solo homer—and Cal Raleigh and Julio Rodríguez hitting back-to-back homers in the first inning that was just the start of an eventual 9-2 drubbing of the worst team in the Majors.

Cal added a second bomb in the eighth inning to cap the Mariners' offense for the night, his 60th home run of the year. Cal is now the seventh player in Major League history to reach the 60 HR milestone and just the fourth to do it without the taint of a steroid scandal. He has four games remaining to catch/surpass AL record-holder Aaron Judge's mark of 62.

It was a lot of fun tonight. The energy at the ballpark was intense, the Seattle players were clearly fired up, the postgame celebrations were a hoot, and Raleigh again got on the PA and swore, declaring the team's intention to "win the whole fuckin' thing."

The remaining drama of the season is for the final two playoff berths and postseason tourney seeding and I include the following mostly for my dad to understand the calculus.

The Mariners now have 89 wins. The AL East-leading Yankees have 90. The Blue Jays also have 90, but only one of them will be a division winner, the other will be a Wild Card team. The Red Sox have 87 wins and could conceivably overtake the Yanks/Jays in the last four games if all went their way. The Yankees have the easiest opponents left, with one more vs. the White Sox and three vs. Baltimore, while the Jays have one more against the Red Sox and three vs. the Rays. Boston has three against the imploding-but-still-formidable Detroit Tigers after their one more against the Blue Jays. The odds are against the M's finishing with the top record even if they win all four remaining games, but they could if they do sweep and the Yankees and Blue Jays each do no better than split their final four.

The race for the second seed, assuming the M's fail to surpass the eventual East winners, is down to the M's and the Cleveland Guardians, but only one more Mariner win/Guardian loss would assure Seattle of no worse than the second seed and a spot in the Division Series, skipping the Wild Card round.

My rooting interests the rest of the way, aside from obviously pulling for that Mariner magic to continue with four more wins, is for the Yankees to lose three or more times, the Blue Jays to lose two or more times but one fewer than the Yankees, and the Red Sox to lose all four (making the Blue Jays the East champs at no better than 92 wins, the Yankees a WC team, and the Red Sox potentially but unlikely out of the mix). The Central division is more interesting with Cleveland a game up on Detroit; I'm pulling for Detroit to win their last four, one of which is against Cleveland, and for the Guardians to drop at least one of their last three vs. Texas. That would let Detroit salvage a division title from their epic September collapse and relegate Cleveland to the final WC spot unless Houston were to sweep their last four and Cleveland to drop two of the three vs. Texas.

It's all so complicated. :)

The National League now has both top seeds established with Milwaukee and Philadelphia; the NL West could still go to either the Dodgers or Padres—though the Pads are running out of time—and the Wild Card round will feature those two plus the Cubs and one of the Mets (81 wins), Reds (80), or Diamondbacks (80). Whoever gets that last slot will be one of the worst teams by record to ever make a postseason; the 2005 Padres and 1973 Mets share the dubious honor of worst postseason team with just 82 wins (maybe the Padres get it alone since the Mets had a rainout not made up so had one fewer loss), a few teams have gotten in with 84 (including the 2023 NL champion Diamondbacks, thanks to the current stupid system). I guess I'd prefer the Reds get that last berth, but whatever; whoever it ends up getting it should on principle get bounced out immediately.

 

Elizabeth, Karen, and I enjoy the evening. Karen for some reason has on her I'm-tough-don't fuck-with-me face on, but really, she was giddy.

Posted on September 25, 2025 at 12:25AM   |   Permalink   |     |  

1 Comment

Mariners clinch, sort of

Josh Naylor was the hero again tonight, driving in three of Seattle's four runs

With a dramatic come-from-behind rally in the home half of the eighth inning, Your Seattle Mariners defeated the Colorado Rockies tonight. It was the team's 14th win over their last 15 games, which would be the talk of the baseball world if not for the Cleveland Guardians winning their 17th over their last 20 tonight as well, vaulting them into first place in the American League Central division. Stupid Cleveland, always taking the spotlight away from other American cities with their... er... not-on-fire-anymore river and rock-n-roll museum and bridge gargoyles. I guess.

Anyway, good for the Guardians, but that's of lesser importance. What matters is that in beating Colorado tonight the Mariners assured themselves of finishing the season as a playoff team—even if everything goes poorly from here on out, the worst they can do is be the final Wild Card team in the October postseason tournament. It's a rare thing around here, though not quite as rare as Google would have us believe:

 

It's actually their second trip to the playoffs since 2001, but I suppose you could be forgiven for not remembering that they were a Wild Card team in the first year of the current ridiculous playoff format, 2022, and were bounced out of the Division Series in three straight.

But really they haven't won anything yet. When they win tomorrow (confidence!) they will have won something—that would guarantee them first place in the American League West division, their first division crown since 2001. That's probably what the Google tech was going for, it just was a day early. Probably. It will be the team's fourth AL West title in their 49 seasons in the Majors and keeps them in the running to perhaps, maybe, win their first-ever American League championship and appear in their first-ever World Series.

It almost makes me wish I was still running that other website. Almost. Because odds are extremely high that it would still be a money loser. But it would have made for a pretty fun last couple of weeks to be covering the M's that way and I've thought about that a bit today. I might have had some pieces up about the "lucky mustaches," maybe interviewed that cute family of four all wearing Julio Rodríguez jerseys that I briefly spoke to on the last homestand, had some sort of Cal Raleigh Home Run Tracker as he keeps pushing for the AL record for homers in a season (he's three shy of it with five games left).

And there would have been a piece of some kind about Josh Naylor. The first baseman was a late-season acquisition by the M's and has made all the difference. Without him, it's all but certain that the club would have been eliminated by now. Naylor is having either the best or second-best season of his career, depending on your metrics, holding a .291/.350/.458 stat line with 20 homers and 28 stolen bases to go with surprisingly good defensive range and agility at first base. As soon as the season ends for the M's, they should make it a top priority to extend/re-sign Naylor for next year, as he'll be a free agent after the World Series. Raleigh may well win the Most Valuable Player award for the American League this year, but Josh Naylor has been the most valuable Mariner down the stretch.

Things are still really bunched up in the standings, so even though only two of 12 playoff slots are still up for grabs, the seeding is a bit of a free-for-all as the last five games get started. Assuming the M's win at least three more games and/or the other playoff teams lose a few, they'll be in what a couple of weeks ago looked to be the near-impossible position of having either the first or second seed in the tournament, meaning they go directly to the Division Series without having to face a Wild Card team first. I know there are some who think skipping the WC round is a detriment, as the rest allows for the adrenaline and "momentum" a team might have to fade, but given the minor injury ace pitcher Bryan Woo suffered the other day, I want the team to get the rest. Plus, after this amazing end of the campaign it would be ignominious to be bounced out by a lowly Wild Card club.

Right now the WC round would feature Detroit at Cleveland, Boston at the Yankees, the Mets at the Dodgers, and San Diego at the Cubs, but Houston, Cincinnati, and Arizona are all still viable and no team as yet is guaranteed to skip the WC series except the Milwaukee Brewers. A lot can still happen this week.

I'll be at the ballpark tomorrow for the expected division-clincher. Should be fun!

Tagged Baseball, Seattle Mariners, Posted on September 23, 2025 at 11:59PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

Softball finale

Slightly Washed Up, the Capitol Hill Sunday softball champs

Today was my final umpiring shift of 2025, and it was a pretty good one. Three games, so not too many, not too few. Teams I generally like to ump for. Good weather. Pretty nice evening to end the year's ump work on. Playoffs and the championship game, and yet nobody brought any extra machismo, which is unusual and very much appreciated.

It was at Bobby Morris Field on Capitol Hill, though. Good field, nice location in some ways, not so nice in others because of the inevitable interference from outside forces. You remember the Cap Hill Softball Bingo Card, right? Well, we had our hecklers, we had our drunk hecklers, we had our various sirens. Foul ball to a vehicle. People wandering onto the field mid-play. But a new one tonight was this: Thrash metal concert in the adjoining skate park.

I could do with never having one of those show up ever again. Two of three games with this noise for a soundtrack:

 

 

The recording doesn't do it justice because my phone-camera emphasizes sound it picks up nearest to the mic—usually a nice feature, but cross-purposes to this bit. Trust me, they were loud. Not PA-at-the-stadium loud, but still.

The three games were fun, especially given that the first one was an upset victory (though sad to see the Grounders bounced out early), the second was a dramatic come-from-behind squeaker win, and the third a blowout that everyone had a good time with despite the score. (When you lose by 20 it's good to reflect on the fact that you made it to the last game at all, right?)

The champs were a team known as Slightly Washed Up, living up to their name—if they were more than slightly gone they'd have lost, right? They're a fun bunch and even helped me pack up afterward, always something I remember for when I see them again.

One highlight was a player on the runner-up team that hit two of the longest home runs I've ever seen in a softball game. If you're familiar with Bobby Morris field, you know that there are two softball diamonds on opposing sides of the park; the first of this guy's homers cleared the backstop fence of the far diamond. Not straightaway, but near enough. The second was in a more traditional left-center trajectory but cleared the skate park and landed on the street by the apartment building. The pitcher that served up the first bomb, after her outfielder retrieved the ball and threw it back to her, did a classy thing and gave the ball to the hitter as a souvenir. (I mean, technically it wasn't hers to give, but still, if I'd thought of it instead I would have given it to him too, and since these were the last games of the year we had plenty to spare.)

I didn't eject anyone this year, though there were a few I maybe should have. There were a few truly bad days on the field with complainers and hotheads. But by and large it was a fun time and a good way to earn some scratch. And, of course, it's always good to be out at the park with people I enjoy being around.

So, as we bid adieu to 2025 umping, I say thank you to the players, especially: Megan C., Neal C., Amy B., Frankie E., Chuck H., Woalter G., Joel N., Wyatt C., Ray L.,  Pat W., Chase S., Connor K., Mal G., Gwen M., Alex Z. ("Mr. Atoz"), Rachaele M., Celena O., Emma C., Aidan S., Carrie A., Annabel T., Aaron K., Troy L., Brent P., Brandy B., "Blue Jean" Brandon B., Ed F., Robin D., Aaron Y., and a whole bunch of others I'm not recalling names for just now—oh, and Lewis, the Jasons, Cerissa and the rest of the Leftovers, Abe, other Meg, other Emma, Boyd, Tess, hell, even Kevin, who is sometimes a jerk. 

Not Marcus, though. If I never see that guy again it'll be too soon.

And shout-out to my fellow umps Laz and Ben, you guys have fans too. But just remember, I'm the favorite. :)

Tagged Softball, Umping, Posted on September 22, 2025 at 3:38AM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

Mad enough to chew neutronium

What the fuck are you doing, Hakeem?!

Hakeem Jeffrries, along with 94 other Democrats in the House, voted Yes on "a resolution to honor the life of Charles Kirk."

Why?

I can think of no good reason. I can think of bad ones. Capitulation is what the bad ones all redound to. 

Charlie Kirk—whose middle name I've learned was "James," which bugs me to no end—was, yes, the victim of a horrible crime and that crime was detestable and unconscionable and a black mark on humanity. But is that sufficient to warrant this Congressional resolution? If so, then where are the resolutions honoring the countless other victims of our absurd gun culture? Charlie Kirk gets honored but the woman gunned down in a camp of unhoused folks in Minneapolis this week doesn't? Charlie Kirk gets honored but the guy shot and killed while playing basketball in the Bronx last month doesn't? Charlie Kirk gets honored but Melissa Hortman doesn't? Charlie Kirk gets honored but the 1,400+ minors shot and killed just last year in this country don't?

Charlie Kirk gets honored because his murder is being used by the so-called Republican party to fuel propaganda and as a rallying cry for stochastic terrorism.

The Democratic leader in the House of Representatives shouldn't be voting in favor of that.

I wrote to my senators and congresswoman again today. Not about Jeffries and the resolution honoring a misogynistic bigot that called for the previous president to be killed; I only mentioned that in passing. My focus was, once again, on the duty of every member of Congress to remove the fascist regime currently occupying power in the White House. By not doing so they are betraying their own oaths of office as this regime continues to piss all over the Constitution as they declare the First Amendment dead, as they continue to murder people on the open sea—three more killed today—as they continue to use a de facto secret police force to abduct and disappear people they don't think are "American" enough.

I'm sick of Chuck Schumer insisting that he needs bipartisan support for even the smallest things. We need him—or his replacement as minority leader if he gets out of the way—to insist on bipartisan support for defending and upholding the Constitution. We need Democratic leadership to be demanding the so-called Republicans either respect their oaths of office and end this fascist regime or resign immediately because they are betraying their country. They need to be called out for their rejection of the bill of rights, the very rule of law, every principle this country was founded on. (Well, except racism; if we're honest, that too was part of the country's founding and they're staying true to that.)

Congress could end this nightmare tomorrow.

But they won't.

Because the majority party is too corrupt, too cowed, too myopic, too greedy, and too comfortable with fascism.

That's got to change.

Tagged Politics, Republicans, Hakeem Jeffries, President VonClownstick, Posted on September 20, 2025 at 3:17AM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

Does this one go to eleven? Twelve? More?

Cal Raleigh wielding the mustache card

While the nation's governing regime moves more and more into totalitarian dystopia, there is some good news: Your Seattle Mariners have won ten in a row and find themselves in first place with 11 games remaining in the season.

The lead in the American League West division is small—a mere half-game separates them from the hated Houston Astros, against whom the M's will play a three-game set later this week in Houston. But the 'Stros are banged up, missing their heaviest hitter, and have been a couple of games under .500 since the end of June. The Mariners, meanwhile, appear to be healthy and are riding a wave of momentum that might be enough to counter their season-long struggles playing on the road. The pitching rotations line up to be the top three for each side facing off in that critical series, so expect some nailbiters.

It's fun. And, man, do we ever need fun right now.

How are they doing it? Well, there's the witch's spell. Also, the power of the mustache: Several Mariner players and coaches, including manager Dan Wilson, have grown/are growing mustaches after someone (as yet unidentified, but I think formerly-full-bearded pitching coach Pete Woodworth might be the one) sported one in the clubhouse when the team started the win streak in Atlanta; as anyone who's played The Mr. B Game knows, the mustache card gives you superpowers. Or maybe it's the Cheetos. Or, you know, they just remembered they're pretty dang good at baseball.

I attended three games in the Mariners' most recent homestand, last Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. They were all good games, though the experience wasn't all good. Erik and I went together on Saturday and he made some notes about it. The noise level from the stadium speakers is something I've complained about before—both here on the blog and to the Mariners' customer service reps, whom I'm sure completely ignore me—but I am concerned more than ever about its cumulative damage. My tinnitus has never been worse, and here I am, three days after that Saturday night game, and the ringing has yet to diminish at all. That's new. I may have to invest in some noise-canceling headphones before next season, though that too would diminish the experience at games. (Just turn the frakking volume down, you jerks, there's no reason for it to be cranked that high in the first place.)

I'll go back, though. Because, again, it's fun. Ten straight wins, some of them in weird fashion, some of them featuring things I'd never seen in a baseball game, some of them just neat. For example:

• Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals was a 1-1 game from early on—solo homer in the first from St. Louis, two singles and a sac fly in the second from Seattle—and stayed that way until the 11th inning. You would think that meant a really fast game, especially since both starting pitchers were more than solid in their efforts, but this one had to have been the longest regulation-nine-innings for a game with no more than two runs scored in the pitch-clock era. Seattle starter Logan Gilbert had a splendid line in the scorebook: 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K, 2 HB, 1 HR, 96 pitches. Except that all that was in 42/3 innings. That's not a complaint, mind you, just an observation—just because there isn't scoring doesn't mean there's nothing happening, and watching Gilbert wiggle out of jams had its own appeal and I'd never seen a starter approach 100 pitches before finishing the fifth before. Usually when a pitcher has to throw tons of pitches early on it's because he's getting smacked around and/or walking in runs and he gets yanked well before the pitch count gets past 60ish, but the only run Gilbert allowed was that solo shot on the tenth pitch of the game.
• Another thing about that game that I've never seen—and would not have been possible before Commissioner Manfred's stupid extra-inning zombie runner rule—was retiring the side 1-2-3 with only two batters. The Cardinals began the 10th inning with their stupid Manfred Man on second base. The leadoff batter lined out. Then the second batter hit a fly ball to center that was caught by Julio Rodríguez, only the zombie runner didn't think it would be caught and had run to third base, so he was easily doubled off of second to end the frame. Wacky.
• Yet another first for me in Wednesday night's game was when Cole Young stepped to the plate to lead off the home tenth. With their own zombie runner on second base, everyone who was paying any attention at all knew that Young would be up there to bunt the runner over to third. Yet, before a pitch was thrown, the Cardinals held a meeting on the mound, using up one of their limited allotment of mound visits to discusss...how to defend the bunt? Couldn't y'all have done that in the dugout before taking the field, like, 20 seconds before? Sure enough, Young tried to bunt, but since he came up through the Mariners' minor leagues, he isn't good at it and popped it foul for an out.
• That game was won in the 13th on a first-pitch homer by unlikely hero Leo Rivas, who gave the best postgame interview ever after the fact. Rather than regurgitate the standard Crash Davisisms, he just exulted in the moment. No, I wasn't trying to hit it out, no I wasn't sitting on a fastball, I was trying to move the runner over! Duh! My scoresheet for that 13-inning marathon is a mess; next time I make a scorebook I should make the pages with space for more than 11 innings.
  
• Saturday night featured one of the best at-bats I'd ever seen, and the first one in which ball one came on the tenth pitch of the AB. Josh Naylor swung and missed on the first pitch and then fouled off eight in a row. It was almost disappointing when he took pitch number ten for a ball. On pitch eleven he grounded a base hit through the right side to drive in what would end up being the winning runs of the game.
• I wasn't at Sunday's game, but in that one the M's got out to an 11-0 lead (final score 11-2) behind George Kirby striking out 14, staying in just long enough to outdo Bryan Woo's 13 Ks the night before.
• Today's action, seen on TV, included Dom Canzone clubbing three homers and going 5-for-5. I'd seen 5-for-5 before—Ichiro and Tino Martínez both did it with me watching—but not like this. Cal Raleigh's two homers put him in a tie with Ken Griffey Jr. for most home runs by a Seattle player in a single season.

 The boys go for number 11 tomorrow in Kansas City. Let's see how far they can take it. The record is out of reach—Cleveland won 22 straight in 2017—but the longest winning streak this season is 14, by the Milwaukee Brewers last month. Can they beat that? Wouldn't that be something. (Of course, by accepted sports fan logic I have jinxed it from happening by even mentioning the possibility. But that's all nonsense, right?)

Tagged Baseball, Seattle Mariners, Posted on September 16, 2025 at 11:14PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

1 Comment

We are governed by terrorists

Since the initial reactions from so-called Republicans to the murder of MAGA podcaster and influencer Charlie Kirk, which were irresponsible and inflammatory (with the notable exception of Utah Governor Cox's statements), we have learned that (a) the killer was not, in fact, motivated by liberal ideology, contradicting those initial Republican reactions; and (b) that those same Republicans have no problem gaslighting anyone who will listen about the murder and are enthusiastically weaponizing it for their own purposes.

OK, so (b) isn't exactly something we learned over the past few days. None of that was surprising in the least.

Just today we have had the alleged President, Vice-President, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff go on television/Internet video and go full-on fascist to conduct stochastic terrorism. The U.S. government murdered another three Venezuelans on the open sea, bringing the total number of Venezuelans who may OR MAY NOT have been engaged in something illegal to be murdered by "President" Convicted Felon's regime on the open sea to 14. Republican propagandists not holding White House titles went on TV/Internet video to claim, with evidence pointing undeniably to the contrary, that the killing of Charlie Kirk was a political hit by left-wing activists and thus outrageous and all sorts of hellfire should be brought to bear against opponents of the regime but the overtly political murders and attempted murders of Minnesota state legislators earlier this year by MAGA terrorists were "bullshit" examples of political violence. Greg Gutfled, blowhard of rage and toxic masculinity personified, even went on to say that as far as examples of Republican-committed violence are concerned, "we don't care." Further, that "there is no cognitive dissonance on our side," despite his having just articulated on cable television that he embraces and even willfully expands his own cognitive dissonance.

All of these people—the tyrant-in-chief, the VP, Deputy COS Nosferato McGoebbels, Gutfled, and the others spewing this venom—are quite blatantly trying to weaponize psychological projection to a degree heretofore untried in the history of the world.

JD Vance today: "We [Republicans] don't believe in political violence, but we do believe in civility." Blatant lies, both parts, and said in support of his call for people who hear others say anything negative about Charlie Kirk to "call their employers," presumably to try and get them fired. Vance propagated the lies that a "lunatic" left-wing (read: "Democratic") movement is celebrating Charlie Kirk's murder with such outrage that it was no doubt convincing to the easily-conned MAGA base, many of whom have shown their willingness to, well, be violent, often with firearms. He implored his audience to outrage over the fact that some entities that have contributed to Democratic campaigns, who in his logic are by implication if not outright accusation "celebrating" political murders, get Federal tax incentives in various ways and are thus subsidized by the public and isn't that disgusting. EVEN IF THAT WERE TRUE, it would pale in comparison to the funds right-wing groups and corporate entities receive in Federal subsidies, not to mention that fact that this entire fascist regime—with its extrajudicial murders on the high seas, abductions and horrors as standard immigration policy, illegal military invasions of American cities, devastations of public health, and scores of other pro-death actions—is being paid for by you and me.

The tyrant-in-chief today, talking about "the radical left," which is his code for Democrats: "[They] cause tremendous violence, and seem to do it in a bigger way [than Republicans], they cause a lot of problems for this country, I really think they hate our country." I challenge this asshole to name even one instance of "tremendous violence" carried out by "the left" in the US over the last several decades. He'd say the incident last year when he was shot at during a campaign rally was one, but the culprit then was, in fact, a registered Republican with a history of anti-semitic and anti-immigrant statements and whose motive is unclear, with as much likelihood on the theory that he was going for mass-shooter mayhem and the rally was a convenient high-density event to target than any other hypothetical motive. There was the UnitedHealth CEO being murdered, but whether or not that was "leftist ideology" depends on how generous your terminology is. If he could manage to reference anything else without lying, he'd probably have to cite anarchist vandalism or incidents that were prompted by violent escalations from law enforcement during protests.

The tyrant-in-chief also said today that the transgender flag represents "violence." Maybe it does to the people inclined to commit violence against the trans community. But they don't need a flag for that. He also said that police should be allowed to "do whatever [they] want" no matter how violent in response to "agitators" shouting things.

THESE ARE THE VIOLENT PEOPLE. The regime. The Republican party. The right-wing blowhards.

Sigh. I'm not saying anything here most of you don't already know. But I had to vent.

Now I go to umpire softball, where hopefully nobody thinks it's OK to incite terror and murder.

Posted on September 15, 2025 at 7:11PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

An eye for an eye leaves everyone blind

Charlie Kirk was a reprehensible human being. A purveyor of hatred, a propagandist, an unabashed bigot who camouflaged his nastiness with a relatively polite demeanor when speaking with opponents. He was instrumental in building up the base of the MAGA cult and a skilled manipulator.

But killing him was also reprehensible.

Lionizing him in death? Also reprehensible.

The so-called President of the United States using this murder to incite more violence against those he thinks of as his enemies? Reprehensible times 1,000.

As countless Democratic elected officials and unelected leaders have already said with the proper vehemence, there is no acceptable form of political violence. The way of a democracy is political discussion. Persuasion. Accountability and argument. Debate.

Some have been praising Charlie Kirk as one who held to this, that he debated. Even Ezra Klein, who fucking knows better, claimed Charlie Kirk did politics "the right way." He did not, of course—see opening paragraph—and he tacitly if not overtly approved of political violence even if he was not perpetrating it himself.

Charlie Kirk loved firearms as well, going so far as to state that the occasional mass shooting was an acceptable price to pay for the ability to arm oneself to the teeth. Some might think his death is karma in action.

I don't know, I'm more an expert on katras than karma, but I do know that doesn't matter in a civilized society.

What matters now is this: Charlie Kirk, a hateful man who wielded outsized influence on the so-called Republican party, has been murdered—by a young man who was an avid gamer with right-wing online influences steeped in an allegedly satirical video game wherein the player is an agent for a fascist regime—in yet another gun crime in America; the victim's political allies, including the tyrant-in-chief, immediately twisted the killing into a call for actions to be taken—unspecified, of course—against Democrats, whom he labels "the radical left" and whom he claims are "vicious and horrible" and "the worst thing" about the United States; and people who are like Charlie Kirk was in their worldview are being given permission from those political allies to commit more violence.

The hypocrisy is, of course, astonishing in its massive scope.

It is not the left, radical or otherwise, that has committed political violence on a scale not seen in decades in the last ten or so years, it is the Republicans and the Trump cult. It is not Democratic leaders calling for violence to be inflicted on political opponents, it is Republicans. I would not be at all surprised if we were to find out that the killer was himself a MAGA devotee carrying out some sort of vengeance from MAGA infighting.

Here's one statement in particular that I'd like to highlight as the epitome of weaponized psychological projection:

"The fate of millions depends upon the defeat of this wicked ideology. What ideology? The one that hates everything that is good, that is at war with family and nature, that looks upon the perfect family with bitter rage while embracing the serial criminal with tender warmth."

I fully agree with the literal statement there, as the modern Republican party embodies all of those things. Proudly. But then you realize that those words were uttered by Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff and prime architect of much of the current regime's policies, projecting that nastiness onto us, the non-fascist contingent in America. 

Charlie Kirk was a despicable person. But his murder is the last thing anyone should cheer about. If not for the basic humanity of opposing murder, then for the practical reason that it will only escalate the chaos and danger we all face going about our lives under this autocratic regime.

Posted on September 12, 2025 at 5:59PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet

Strategery

Before I head down to the ballpark this evening, a little cut-n-paste. This comes to us from, as usual, the great Craig Calcaterra:

The Mariners had lost six of seven heading into this past Saturday's game against Atlanta but since then they've won four in a row. Did they make some adjustments? Did they watch some film? Nah, someone just cast a magic spell on 'em.

Over the weekend a Twitter user under the handle @notB0bR055 posted that he had paid a witch that he found on Etsy to cast a spell to end the Mariners' losing ways:

On Saturday morning, they posted an update with a screenshot of correspondence with SpellByLuna on Etsy, confirming the purchase of a $19.99 spell (with a $4 “shop discount”) to help the Mariners “get their act together and start winning baseball games again, and hopefully make their way to the World Series and win.”

SpellByLuna’s response reads in part: “I completed my spell with my best materials for you. It was a ritual process full of beautiful energies, dear, everything is fine. Now all you need to do is to stay positive and accept the manifestation of the spell.”

Since the casting of the spell, Seattle has outscored their opponents 37-9, thereby confirming the veracity of witchcraft. I hereby apologize to Rev. Samuel Parris and Matthew Hopkins who, as far as I'm concerned, stand vindicated.

Still, I'd be careful if I were the Mariners. There's a chance they'll be in an ALDS matchup against the Red Sox come October and we know how Massachusetts rolls with this sort of thing.

How long before the Mariners' promotions department organizes "Wiccan Night" at the park? And how would that work? Turn the evangelist with the bullhorn outside the gates into a newt and get in for free, maybe? Of course, full-size broomsticks would be prohibited as potential weapons, but if you can turn the evangelist into a newt I'd be unconcerned about the brooms.

Tagged Baseball, Seattle Mariners, Posted on September 10, 2025 at 4:43PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

2 Comments

Supremely Corrupt

The Legion of Doom. Impeach them all.

The latest travesty from the corrupt anti-American fascist-enablers that make up the majority of our Supreme Court attempts to make the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution null and void. And it's merely the next link the lengthening chain of indefensible rulings from John Roberts and his Gang of Supervillains.

In the ruling favoring the government's position in Noem v. Vazquez Perdomo—unsigned, a product of the so-called "shadow docket" but with a concurrence written by Brett "I like beer" Kavanaugh—suspends the ruling of a lower court that declared actions taken in California by the Department of Homeland Security ran afoul of the public's Constitutional rights. Basically, it says that Constitutional protections from unreasonable searches and seizures are optional, that law enforcement may decide what's reasonable and what isn't and courts and judges can go fly a kite.

In his concurrence, Kavanaugh cites language from The Immigration and Nationality Act that says anyone may be detained and questioned given “a reasonable suspicion, based on specific articulable facts,” then goes on to describe DHS actions interrogating/snatching people "based on the following factors or combination of factors: (i) presence at particular locations such as bus stops, car washes, day laborer pickup sites, agricultural sites, and the like; (ii) the type of work one does; (iii) speaking Spanish or speaking English with an accent; and (iv) apparent race or ethnicity"—the basis for the lower courts injunction—as perfectly fine.

"In my view," Kavanaugh writes,  "the Government has made a sufficient showing to obtain a stay pending appeal," contending that "the Government has demonstrated a fair prospect of reversal of the District Court’s injunction." How, you ask? By claiming those suing Kristi Noem and DHS have no standing. Those people have already been hassled by DHS, and they want injunctive relief against future harassment? Ridiculous, says Kavanaugh. "Plaintiffs have no good basis to believe that law enforcement will unlawfully stop them [specifically] in the future based on the prohibited factors—and certainly no good basis for believing that any stop of the plaintiffs is imminent." This is another example of the Roberts Court's claim that courts cannot protect the public at large, they can only protect the specific individuals who bring lawsuits and only in very narrow contexts.

Plus, I'd contend that the plaintiffs here have pretty firm basis that they are at risk. Their circumstances, i.e. existing while brown and Spanish-speaking, haven't changed since they were originally harassed so their continues to be equal risk.

Justice I Like Beer goes on to claim that DHS uses "their experience" and "a variety of factors" in deciding who to stop/question/harass/abduct, therefore the court cannot claim said decisions are "unreasonable." He continues, "Whether an officer has reasonable suspicion depends on the totality of the circumstances," then describes ethnic profiling and the supposition that undocumented immigrants often work certain jobs, "and that many of those illegally in the Los Angeles area come from Mexico or Central America and do not speak much English" as valid reasons for DHS to do their thing. In other words, yeah, bigotry is fine.

And pay no attention to the fact that this entire justification is the inverse of the standing argument: Courts may only protect the specific individuals bringing suit for their specific individual claim and cannot paint with any broader brush than that, but DHS and law enforcement can paint with as broad a brush as they damn well want to. Double-standards are the way of the Roberts Court, after all.

It's a blatantly unconstitutional opinion. The Fourth Amendment doesn't allow for the kind of wiggle room or double standards Kavanaugh wants to employ. It says, in its entirety, "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Then, as a cherry on top, Kavanaugh shows his absolute ignorance/willful blindness to reality with this gem: "Importantly, reasonable suspicion means only that immigration officers may briefly stop the individual and inquire about immigration status. If the person is a U.S. citizen or otherwise lawfully in the United States, that individual will be free to go after the brief encounter." Really, Brett? Ask Kilmar Abrego about that. Ask any number of people here legally but still being held in immigration detention centers or the Florida concentration camp if they were "free to go" following a "brief encounter" with DHS.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor penned the dissent, yet another blistering rebuke of the majority's abuse of their position. Noting that it used to be near-unheard of for SCOTUS to stay a district court's ruling without prompting, Sotomayor wrote that this ruling "is yet another grave misuse of our emergency docket. We should not have to live in a country where the Government can seize anyone who looks Latino, speaks Spanish, and appears to work a low wage job."

Sotomayor goes on to detail the abuses of DHS in this matter and their terroristic tactics, reiterates the veracity of the plaintiff's case, cites the thoroughness of the District Court's decision that Kavanaugh rejects, and for good measure gives a primer on THE FOURTH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION, since the majority of this court wants to pretend it doesn't exist. Kavanaugh's championing of profiling holds no water; the majority opinion's justifications "in no way reflect the kind of individualized inquiry the Fourth Amendment demands," writes Sotomayor, and she is 100% correct, citing numerous case precedents to back her up (including one that Kavanaugh attempted to twist into support for his concurrence). She also eviscerates Kavanaugh's lack-of-standing argument as well as points out what should be obvious to anyone taking this seriously, let alone, oh I don't know, A SUPREME COURT JUSTICE, that the government's case rests on its claim that the District Court's injunction against detaining/harassing people based on Kavanaugh-approved ethnic profiling “chills [its] enforcement efforts” and “deters officers from stopping suspects even when they have reasonable suspicion on other grounds.” If they have other grounds, then they are not violating the injunction. They're fighting the injunction because they want the freedom use these unconstitutional grounds.

Unwilling to let Kavanaugh's willful ignorance of reality skate by, Sotomayor also writes, "Immigration agents are not conducting 'brief stops for questioning,' as the concurrence would like to believe. They are seizing people using firearms, physical violence, and warehouse detentions. Nor are undocumented immigrants the only ones harmed by the Government’s conduct. United States citizens are also being seized, taken from their jobs, and prevented from working to support themselves and their families. The concurrence relegates the interests of U.S. citizens and individuals with legal status to a single sentence, positing that the Government will free these individuals as soon as they show they are legally in the United States. That blinks reality."

She concludes: "Because this [ruling] is unconscionably irreconcilable with our Nation’s constitutional guarantees, I dissent."

The whole dissent is suitably righteous and damning. Sotomayor serves to remind us what the Supreme Court of the United States is supposed to be, how the Constitution is supposed to be the Court's foundation, and maybe provides the slimmest bit of hope that when this reign of autocratic terror finally comes to an end that sanity will return to America.

 

Tagged SCOTUS, Politics, Posted on September 9, 2025 at 8:57PM   |   Permalink   |     |  

No Comments yet