Mariners Are In First Place!!! (Among Second-Place Teams)

The combination of a Mariner win and losses by both New York and Detroit last night meant that the Mariners leapfrogged 'em both and woke up today as the leader for the American League Wild Card!

This is the first time the Mariners have been in first place of anything since late August of 2003, when we sat in the commissary of a scientific research station in Ecuador and listened over unscrambled Armed Forces radio as Boston completed a four-game sweep of the M's, pulling them out of both their division lead and their lead in the wild card.

It was not a good day to be a cockroach in Parque Nacional de Yasuni, we assure you.

At 62-49, the M's hold a percentage points lead over 63-50 Detroit to be the Wild Card, an extra team that makes it into the playoffs every year for being the best second-place finisher.

It's sort of like getting a ticket to the dance from your big sister--but after three straight seasons of loserdom, we will take it.

According to our calculations, if the Mariners win every game from now until the end of the season, including a playoff with Detroit, they would be Wild Card "champs."

That is to say, the M's control their own destiny! Unlike (ooooh, wait for it) those Ecuadorian cockroaches. (See what we did there?)