Mariners’ Kyle Seager gets emotional sendoff from T-Mobile Park crowd
Oct 3, 2021, 6:18 PM | Updated: 7:23 pm
After 11 years in a Seattle Mariners uniform, Sunday may have been it for Kyle Seager.
And he wasn’t going to get away without the T-Mobile Park faithful giving him a grand sendoff.
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Shortly after the Mariners were officially eliminated from postseason contention by virtue of the Red Sox and Yankees winning their respective season finales on Sunday afternoon, Mariners manager Scott Servais came out to make a replacement in the ninth inning, removing Seager in Seattle’s eventual 7-3 loss to the Angels. Bringing in Donovan Walton to take over for Seager was done to give both Seager a chance to salute the sold-out crowd at the Mariners’ home stadium, and perhaps more so for the fan base to show its appreciation for one of the all-time Mariner greats.
After being replaced on the field, Seager was fittingly given the third base used in the game.
Watch the emotional scene in the video here:
While Seager’s playing days are almost certainly not over, it is widely believed that the Mariners will let him become a free agent this offseason rather than exercise a team option in his contract.
Seager, who will turn 34 next month, was a 2009 third-round draft pick out of North Carolina by Seattle and has spent his entire pro career with the franchise to this point. He made his MLB debut in 2011, became the Mariners’ primary starting third baseman the next year, and both made the American League All-Star team and won a Gold Glove in 2014. On the Mariners career leaderboard, he is third all-time in doubles and extra base hits, fourth in home runs, RBIs, hits, total bases, games played and plate appearances, and fifth in runs scored, walks and WAR.
Though the lefty-hitting Seager had a career-low .214 batting average in 2021, it was a career season in many other respects. He hit a career-high 35 home runs, had his first 100-RBI campaign (101), and was among one of the most clutch players in the game. Perhaps most importantly, the man known as “Cap” – as in “captain” – to his teammates continued to provide valuable leadership for a young team that got over the hump of a rebuild and finished with the team’s best record (90-72) since 2003.
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