Sept. 16 felt like many other Tuesday nights before it in Seattle Sports.
Until it wasn’t.
It’s a testament to the incredible sports scene in Seattle, that it’s not uncommon to have several major pro sports teams in action on the same night.
To that end, the Mariners continued their playoff push in Kansas City, the Storm fought with their season on the line in the WNBA playoffs, while the Sounders and Reign took to the pitch.
But this was one of those days where it was just written in the stars that something special was in the works. Like it was meant to be.
Heck, Seattle even tied a record high temperature of 91 degrees. Like I said, meant to be.
It started with Cal Raleigh, the Mariners’ slugging catcher who just completely captured the heart of the baseball world with his home run smashing this summer. From winning the Home Run Derby to leading the Mariners to the brink of the postseason. On Tuesday, it was like magic.
In the 3rd inning of a rout against the Royals, Cal drilled his 55th home run, breaking the Major League Baseball record for most homers by a switch-hitter set in 1961 by Mickey Mantle. Incredible company and what a feat to break a 64-year-old record.
That, like so many of Cal’s 2025 milestones, was more than enough.
But not for him.
The next inning, Cal came to the plate again and hit his 56th home run. This time, he tied Ken Griffey, Jr. for the most home runs ever hit in a single season by a Mariner.
And he has 11 games to break that record. And it happened the same night Dominic Canzone hit three home runs in the same game.
It all comes, of course, with the Mariners being in their best playoff position this late in the season since 2001.
There was also the denial of history, much to our delight in Seattle.
The Seattle Storm, with its season at stake, beat the mighty Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of their 1st round series in the WNBA playoffs.
The Aces came into Tuesday night’s game riding an astonishing 17-game win streak, just one shy of the WNBA record.
But the Storm, despite losing game one to the Aces by 25 points just 48 prior, dug deep and found a way to win.
Like we said, something was in the air.
Skylar Diggins dropped 26 points, including the dagger in the final five seconds, Nneka Ogwumike scored 24, while rookie Dominique Malonga had another double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, including a huge basket and foul in transition that put the Storm in front 84-83 with 30 seconds left in the game.
Stopping the streak, keeping their season alive, and forcing a winner-take-all Game 3.
This all happened on a random Tuesday night in September.
This is how special Seattle sports really are.
No Storm fan will ever forget the night they erased a double-digit lead to extend their season.
No Mariners fan will forget Cal hitting two home runs, both with record-setting implications.
And it was all just a regular Tuesday night in Seattle sports.
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