Former Mariners slugger Mike Cameron shared advice with the franchise superstar before the team's dominant stretch in September
The Seattle Mariners have had the best stretch in recent franchise history since the first week of September.
Since Sept. 6, the Mariners are 16-1 and have won six consecutive series against the Atlanta Braves, St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Angels, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros and Colorado Rockies.
During that stretch, Seattle has swept the Cardinals, Angels, Astros and will look to break out the brooms against the Rockies in the series finale at 6:40 p.m. PT on Thursday. The Mariners clinched a playoff berth in a Game 1 win against Colorado on Tuesday and won the American League West for the first time since 2001 in Game 2 of the series on Wednesday.
But things were looking grim for Seattle before it went on that stretch.
Before winning the final two of the three-game series against Atlanta, the Mariners went 1-6 on the road trip and were swept by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Whether it was a change in mentality, the team's almost unilateral commitment to growing mustaches or a fan paying an Etsy witch cast a spell to turn the team's season around, fortunes shifted for Seattle. A former Mariners outfielder might have played a role, as well.
Mike Cameron played for Seattle from 2000-03 and during that time was named an All-Star (2001) and won two-of-three career Gold Glove awards ('01, '03).
Cameron has been around the team fairly regularly since his career ended in 2011, either throwing out ceremonial first pitches or giving some pointers in spring training.
Cameron was with the team during their series against the Braves. In a recent appearance on the "Baseball Isn't Boring" podcast, Cameron detailed how he burnt sage to help "cleanse the air" and also detailed some advice he gave to superstar Mariners outfielder Julio Rodriguez.
"I had a conversation with Julio (Rodriguez) in the space, in the outfield," Cameron said on the podcast. "I (said) 'Please don't ever forget how good you are. Make people appreciate how good you are.' He plays with that type of energy already so it was just like, don't allow this group to go down. You're too close. Don't allow this group to go down. Make sure everything, people (are) staying on track and staying locked in mentally in that sense. There was just so much going on."
The advice seemed to have worked.
Over the course of Seattle's 16-1, 17-game stretch, Rodriguez has scored 15 runs and has hit seven doubles and four home runs with 13 RBIs and has stolen four bases in as many attempts. He's slashed .328/.408/.612 with a 1.020 OPS.
In the Mariners' 9-2, AL West-clinching victory against the Rockies on Wednesday, Rodriguez hit his 32nd home run of the season, which tied a single-season career-high.
Seattle will look to clinch a bye through the wild card round in Game 3 of the series against Colorado on Thursday. The Mariners will guarantee a top-two seed in the American League with a win or a Cleveland Guardians loss.
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