Important development – the Mariners have a HR trident now

The Seattle Mariners have brought back the trident. Only this time, it’s forks up.

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Julio Rodríguez cracked his fourth home run of the year Wednesday against the Brewers, and when he returned from his trot around the bases, the team made a surprise reveal: they have a home run trident now.

Rodríguez took the staff as he made his way through the dugout, stopping to pose with it while facing the camera well on the first base side at T-Mobile Park.

WELL THIS IS NEW 🔱 pic.twitter.com/gSFOwYgL8S

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 19, 2023

BEHOLD, IN ALL ITS GLORY. pic.twitter.com/1Yugo9g3sA

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 19, 2023

The reactions on social media following the reveal were enthusiastic.

Props like this have been all the rage in baseball in recent years, especially when it comes to home run celebrations. The Blue Jays have a jacket, for instance. In the World Baseball Classic, Great Britain had a crown and cape that players like top Mariners prospect Harry Ford donned after they homered. Even the Mariners had one – the “Swelmet,” which had been used in the clubhouse as a sort of player of the game award in previous years but popped up in the dugout in 2022 after M’s homers.

This isn’t the first trident to show up on the field, either. The Oakland Athletics had one in 2021 (which was suspiciously similar-looking to the one the M’s broke out Wednesday), which then-A’s pitcher Chris Bassitt explained the origin of after a particularly strong start.

Ryan Divish, who covers the Mariners for The Seattle Times, tweeted that the team was seen assembling the trident in the clubhouse prior to Wednesday’s game.

What’s the deal with the Seattle Mariners and the trident?

The Mariners have a long history with the trident. An upside-down trident representing an ‘M’ was their main logo for the first 10 seasons of the franchise’s existence, and when they made a change in 1987, superstition was at least part of the reason. There is a legend that an upside-down trident is bad luck, and if you consider how the first decade of the Mariners’ existence went (plus how things tended to go when they have brought back any version of the logo), well, you can draw your own conclusions.

What’s notable about this new trident prop is that it’s pointing up, which would be the “good luck” direction (the logic being that a trident down traps in bad luck, and a trident up sets it free). Perhaps the Mariners have appeased Poseidon, King of the Sea, with this important new development.

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