Sorry, teacher, we’re a year late.
The 2020 Ex-Mariner of the Year announcement was all set for February 2021. It was a campaign marked by the deepest dive we’ve ever taken here at Playin’ in the Dirt. We searched MLB postseason rosters… added a Ross Eversoles bracket for guys still gripped by the game somewhere you’ve never heard of… an offshore bonus bracket for ex-M’s in foreign lands… we even put in a special folksong bracket for Ex-Mariners named Abraham, Martín, and Juan. And Robi.
So there we were, a year ago, ready to unleash the big announcement. Seriously. It was ready to go. No, teacher, the dog didn’t eat our homework. It was something way worse.
It was #thatman. Kevin Mather. Voldemort. He Who Shouldn’t Even Have Been Named Again here on these pages.
#thatman’s status as a fellow ex-Mariner just seemed to cheapen the news for our winner. It dulled the shine on the happy. So we waited. And waited. We thought maybe we could forget Mather. And pretty soon it was July and our baffling beloved team was in contention, and we figured if we put the 2020 Xmoty out now, we might jinx the works in this magical season, so we waited some more. Then October came and we were exhausted.
And here we are. A couple weeks from when pitchers and catchers might report to 2022 Spring Training if the owners and the union can make it work. Here we are, still trying to catch up.
Looking back, it kinda sucks to be Chris Taylor. Our multi-year Xmoty bridesmaid looked to us like he had it locked up. After his 4th straight postseason in 2020, he went home with a ring on his finger. Ex-Mariners with rings, though, don’t always go home with the coveted Ex-Mariner of the Year. Especially if their stellar postseason play includes a Game-4 game ending error. that led to one of the most bizarre walkoff wins anyone had ever seen above, like, Little League.
So, just to be safe, we kept looking.
We looked south. South to the Caribbean, specifically to the Domincan Republic. And our search dropped us squarely in the lap of los Aguilas Cibaeñas, led by a legendary manager who happened to spend two seasons with our M’s in the mid-90s.
Felix Fermin, “El Gato” to those of us who loved him, watched from the 1995 Mariner dugout as Ken Griffey Jr. rounded third for the peak moment in franchise history. Glorious as that moment was for the fans in the Dome that day, it was an ignominious postseason for El Gato, who took the field as a late defensive replacement five times in Seattle’s 11-game run and managed only one AB – in which he struck out to open the 14th inning of ALDS game 2 – and that was the only October action he would see in ten major league seasons with four different clubs.
But when he went home to the DR for good, man did things change.
Fermin took over managing los Aguilas Cibaeñas in 2000 at 37 years old, immediately took them to victory in the 2001 Dominican Series, and pushed on to take the Caribbean Series championship, all in his first year managing. He won four more Dominican Series titles that decade, and twice more his Aguilas took the Caribbean Series as well.
Then they tossed him.
In 2009, los Aguilas tossed him out! He managed los Gigantes del Cibao for two years, then los Aguilas realized they better kiss and make up, and he came back in 2011. There was no immediate success this time, only ten seasons of struggle and persistence until bam! once again he led los Aguilas to the 2020-21 Dominican Championship and backed it up with a sweep of the six-team round robin, semifinal, and final in the Caribbean Series. El Gato of course was named Outstanding Manager, and a close look at the records will turn up another Ex-M as Outstanding second baseman.
Maybe they’ll hang onto him this time. He’s a young dude, still not even 60. Meanwhile, El Gato, you’re our man. For the hard road back to glory, we salute you, our Ex-Mariner of the Year, 2020.
Thanks for reading. We do this Ex-Mariner thing for fun over here and hope you have a smile on your face. Please drop a comment below.
Photo cred:
Featured at top, El Gato with the 2021 LIDOM trophy, espndeportes.com
1994 baseball card, Pinterest
Smiling Manager Gato, blazetrends.com