Can it really be 10 years ago already????

Here is a quick article about the 1995 American League Division Series between the Seattle Mariners and the New York Yankees. The article sponsor is Coca-Cola and it therefore explains the "chill" references. Where were you and what were you doing when Edgar Martinez hit that double down the left field line in the former Kingdome......

The Seattle Mariners were losers. They even lost their first franchise to a car salesman in Milwaukee after one year of play.

Whether or not that was an ominous sign of the things to come in the next few decades, the M's had no trouble living up (down?) to those expectations. This was, after all, a franchise that once went 14 years without a winning season, and had a club so devoid of star power that the team's announcer was actually voted by fans as the most popular Mariner of all time.

But after years of getting hit with the awful stick, the Mariners' fortunes slowly came together in a perfect storm of destiny and quirkiness in the memorable summer of 1995, when perhaps the most chill group of athletes since the '85 Chicago Bears came shuffling along. This was the year the Mariners were so bad, they knew they were good.

It didn't help that they lost their first legitimate superstar Ken Griffey Jr. to a broken wrist in May. Or at least at first it didn't appear to be a good thing. But instead of panic, the guys remained chill and found a way to eek out wins here and there, each night a different hero.

They found themselves 13 games out of first place in August. But instead of planning their subsequent offseason golf vacations and trade requests now that their franchise player was out of commission, they started chipping away at the Division-leading California Angels.

They didn't set out to dominate and intimidate, like the way Roger Clemens feasts on rookies or the way Bartolo Colon attacks an all-you-can-eat buffet. They did it their way, with a 'what, me worry?' attitude that evoked coolness, chillness, and most of all spectacularness. They were so chill they often waited until there were two outs before making their move, prompting Mariner's fans to say, "Two outs? So what!"

These underdogs were the epitome of cool under pressure. Ice in their veins and arteries. Their 26 come-from-behind wins from July on propelled them to a first-place tie with the Angels on the last day of the season, which forced a one-game playoff they easily handled.

This rag-tag group of overachievers, such as Jay "Bone" Buhner, Tino "We Had Him First" Martinez, "Little" Joey Cora, Edgar "I Defined the Role of a DH" Martinez and Ken "I Was Still Called The Kid" Griffey Jr., were off to face the mighty, mightly Yankees in the first round.

What was that part about being chill? How about losing the first two in the Bronx, just so you can win the next three at home to give the long suffering fans something to really cheer about. And that's exactly what they did. They played in what is perhaps considered the finest Division Series game in the history of Divison Series games. (OK, so this is the first year they had Divison Series games, but it still holds up).

Remember where you were when Kennedy was shot? Ask a Mariners fan where they were when Griffey rounded third on Edgar's 11th inning double to win the game and the series. Then watch them explain how watching one of the most chill teams of all time give them & chills.