A lot was learned in the disappointing end to the Mariners’ surprising season

When the Mariners broke camp in Peoria, Ariz. six months ago, I had no idea what manager Lloyd McClendon was taking north. One too many times I had been burned by false starts or the notion that it has to get better simply because it couldn’t get worse.

When asked on shows what I thought the Mariners would do this season, I refused to give a win/loss prediction not just because I hate predictions but because I really had no idea. My hope was that the younger players would show improvement as the year went on and that finally, finally, they would turn the corner. The path would be moving in an upward direction and that corner would get smaller and smaller in the rear-view mirror.

It was a hope, not a prediction. I made that prediction the year before and the young players did not take that step. Would they break .500? Well, they should come close. Playoffs? That was silly talk. Yet here we are today.

Of course, there are no playoffs for the Mariners and the sting of missing the postseason by one game – which I suspect many of you woke up with this morning – is really not a good feeling to have. What about those other feelings you had this week as the Mariners gave themselves a chance to do something special? The anticipation for game time, the nervousness watching the scoreboard, the breath holding as innings counted down and runs were needed. It was your team trying to do the improbable, not some team with a good storyline adopted late in September because you had to have someone to pull for. At the very least this team gave you that.

We will get into the hows, whys, the what’s next and what should be next for this team in the coming weeks, but I think it is important to acknowledge the step that was taken. This team made a 16-game improvement with a winning record against all division opponents except Houston. The Mariners were competitive from start to finish, and most importantly they learned some things. Early in the season they learned that an eight-game losing streak was not the end of the world as long as they didn’t let it be. They didn’t. And to a man they point to that as a turning point of the season.

“Remember we lost those eight in a row and people were totally saying, ‘Oh, these are the regular Seattle Mariners, we can’t come back.’ Well, we were able to come back and fight and compete,” Robinson Cano said.

Cano said that so much of the Mariners’ ability to bounce back had to do with McClendon’s handling of the team, particularly the young players.

“His patience with us, that was amazing,” Cano said. “As a manager when you come from a team like the Tigers and you win and you have more experienced players, it’s really hard to deal with a lot of young guys and the way he dealt with us, he was so patient. He trusts that we all can play this game and that’s something that really means a lot to us.”

The team also learned what it was like to play a full season with something on the line in September. The focus is different. The intensity is different. The physical and mental demands are different. We saw that. There was no denying that the Astros and Blue Jays were the looser teams on the field when the Mariners faced them on the last road trip. James Paxton admitted to being over-amped when he pitched in Canada. Felix Hernandez took a different approach to his final game after stumbling in Toronto. Dustin Ackley said that he had to re-evaluate how he was handling the pressure down the stretch. Mike Zunino completely shut things down off the field to conserve energy on the brutal road trip. Every player in the clubhouse now has a better understanding of how they react in a stretch run.

It is a step and a big one they no longer have to get past. It is a step that wasn’t absolutely necessary but one that leaves them hungry. That is the flip side of missing the postseason by one game. It sticks with you longer, it sticks with them longer. It is huge motivation, according to Kyle Seager.

“We’ve been on the other end of this. To get a taste of this where we are taking it down to the wire, especially knowing the core that we have and a lot of guys will be back, we are definitely looking forward to and definitely excited about the future,” he said.

Their path coming out of Peoria next year will be different. The hurdles should be fewer and the corner gone. Expectations will be higher as well – yours and theirs. They will have plenty from 2014 to draw on to help get them to where they want to be.

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