MLB Showdown Obsession

 Teams relocate all the time. The Dodgers left Brooklyn. The Twins and Rangers left Washington. The Athletics left Philadelphia, and Kansas City...and Oakland. Point is that teams don't always work out in their market, usually because they aren't very good and the fans abandon them. The Seattle Mariners almost ended up in that very situation. Going into the 90's, the Mariners were still seeking for a winning season and in danger of going the way of the Seattle Pilots. The franchise had brought in Lou Piniella to be Manager in 1993 and while he helped guide them to a winning season, they still lacked postseason accomplishments. As 1995 got underway, it looked like they were on their way to another "good but not good enough" season as they entered late August as a team hovering around .500 and 13 games behind the California Angels in the AL West. A combination of a hot streak by Seattle and a huge collapse by California allowed the Mariners to claw their way back in...