The Seattle Mariners are currently in the American League Championship Series. The last time the team was this close to the World Series was in 2001.
Now, Mariners fans across Washington are waiting to see if their team will beat the Toronto Blue Jays in the best-of-seven-game series.
The TikToker
One Mariners fan in Wenatchee is known around the world.
Juan Sanchez has over 35,000 followers on TikTok, a video-based social media platform. His Mariners content has earned him recognition from fans and even from some players — like Julio Rodriguez.
“I went to a signing to go see Julio. I didn’t think he would recognize me at all. I didn’t realize he watches my stuff,” Sanchez said. “I just thought that was the most amazing thing ever.”
Sanchez’s posts on social media started with his daughter. He felt like he needed to keep up with social media, so he started making videos for fun. He eventually gained more viewers and followers online.
“One day, it all just blew up. I always get messages from fans from around the world. I got one from Australia yesterday, and they said, ‘I don’t go up to the Pacific Northwest often, so I am living through everything you post.’ I get messages from fans saying they appreciate what I post,” Sanchez said.
In Sanchez’s house, there’s a tiered shelf of bobbleheads, newspaper inserts from when Ken Griffey Jr. made the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and baseballs from the 2001 All-Star Game, which was hosted in Seattle.
He’s also a longtime fan. When he was younger, Sanchez said he would beg his parents to take him to Seattle to watch games. He would work odd jobs to gather money for gas and tickets.
“Being a Mariners fan is kinda an up and down thing, for sure. You have to have a lot of patience, for sure,” Sanchez said. “We usually watch every single game, and we’ve had a lot of losing seasons over the years.”
He also represents Mariners fans on the MLB Fan Council, where baseball fans brainstorm ideas on how to improve the fan experience. They bring ideas and feedback to MLB higher-ups on things they enjoy and things they want to change.
The ‘peanut guy’
Erik Mertens lives in the Tri-Cities. He’s known locally as “Erik the Peanut Guy,” and has been a baseball fan all his life — all the way from the minor league to the big leagues.
Mertens gained his nickname by working with the Tri-City Dust Devils — one of the area’s minor league baseball teams.
“In 2001, the Tri-City Dust Devils moved to town, and I started working for them as a peanut vendor. So this peanut guy persona kind of became how people knew me. So 25 years later, we’re still doing this,” he said.
Mertens said he grew up being a big Seattle Mariners fan.
“I’ve just been in love with the team, and mostly because it reminds me how my family would watch Mariners games around the dinner table every night,” he said.
Mertens also has a huge baseball hat collection.
“I collect fitted hats, and I've been really blessed to visit hundreds of minor league and major league ballparks, and so I buy a hat at each one,” he said.
In fact, the first piece of Mertens’ collection was a Mariners hat.
“My dad surprised me with a Mariner's hat, and he got it for me for my birthday,” he said. “That's probably my favorite collectible, because not only has it led to this huge collection which I'm proud of and grateful for, but it also reminds me of how my dad would spend his money, effort and time to bring me some joy. And many times it was in the form of the Seattle Mariners.”
Mertens said fans have been waiting for something big to happen for a long time.
“I’m just grateful that the team is where they are. As of right now, we are two wins away from going to our first-ever World Series,” he said.
Brian Vega is a Voces intern working in NWPB’s newsroom. Voces Internship of Idaho is an equity-driven internship program that strives to bring in new and needed voices to Idaho's news landscape by opening doors for young Latino Idahoans to get professional paid experience to kick-start their careers.
