With the Mariners, it's two steps forward, one step back

There have been many sports columnists who have driven the final nail into the Seattle Mariners’ playoff chances this season. Just as many columnists have flipped the hammer over and used the claw feature to pull out a few of those nails, giving a bit of life to alleviating Seattle fans 16-year postseason drought.

I’ll be one of the latter here, but first, that postseason drought. Sure, it’s a long time, but how about a little perspective.

First, postseason droughts. Up until their run to the American League championship series in 2015, the Toronto Blue Jays last postseason appearance was 1993...