If anyone had to, Mariners fans are glad Cal Raleigh broke Griffey's club HR record

The Seattle Mariners have a new home run king, and for once, the crown didn’t land on the head of a flashy outfielder or a generational superstar drafted straight out of high school.

The record belongs to Cal Raleigh, the catcher whose work ethic and resilience have made him one of the most beloved players in the Pacific Northwest. Mariners fans should be ecstatic. It’s finally time to turn the page from 1998 and write a new chapter in 2025.

For decades, Ken Griffey Jr.’s single-season home run record stood untouched, frozen in time like a snapshot of Seattle baseball’s golden era. Anytime Mariners fans talked about offensive greatness, the conversation inevitably circled back to Griffey. Junior wasn’t just a star, he was the star.

But Cal Raleigh breaking that record feels appropriate. It’s not about erasing Griffey’s place in history. It’s about seeing how the story evolves, how eras compare, and how new heroes emerge in today’s game under different conditions and expectations.

​​Cal Raleigh’s power surge gives Mariners fans a new icon to rally behind

In many ways, Raleigh’s rise takes a weight off Julio Rodríguez’s shoulders. Julio has carried the burden of being “the next Griffey” since the moment he debuted, with every swing dissected, every hot streak viewed as destiny, and every slump treated as betrayal.

Now, with Raleigh’s breakout, the Mariners’ identity no longer leans solely on a center fielder destined for superstardom. Instead, Seattle has a record-breaking catcher who has forced his way into the spotlight — not as a sidekick, but as a co-headliner in the franchise’s story.

The biggest reason this matters? Mariners fans finally have another true star to rally behind. Not just a player with potential, but one whose name is literally etched into the history books. He’s now the one who has surpassed the legends. He’s the one who has done something Ichiro never did, something Félix never could, something Griffey himself hadn’t seen in Seattle since his heyday. That kind of achievement hits different. It signals a new era, one that fans in the Emerald City have been craving since the mid-2000s.

Seattle fans have long carried a chip on their shoulder, talking about underappreciated stars and teams that never quite broke through. Mariners fans have spent years frustrated — not just at the national media, but sometimes at their own players. Julio Rodríguez, as brilliant as he is, has often been held to impossible standards, with stretches where even his own fanbase questioned whether he was delivering enough to justify the “face of the franchise” label. 

Meanwhile, Raleigh wasn’t hyped as a savior, and maybe that’s why his breakthrough feels so satisfying. He wasn’t anointed, he earned it. Surpassing Griffey isn’t just another line in the stat sheet, it’s a stark reminder that greatness doesn’t always arrive in the package fans expect. It’s validation that Mariners baseball can produce a new icon on its own terms, not just a shadow of Junior.

And let’s not overlook the national impact. Seattle has too often been remembered for the what ifs: what if the 2001 team had finished the job, what if Félix had more help, what if Griffey’s tenure lasted longer. Raleigh’s record gives fans something else entirely — something that isn’t tinged with regret or nostalgia.

Instead, it puts the Mariners back in the spotlight for what they are building right now. When people talk about power coming out of the Pacific Northwest, they don’t have to stop at Griffey anymore. They can point to Cal Raleigh and the team forming around him.

For Mariners fans, this moment isn’t just about watching home runs fly over the fence. It’s about watching history get rewritten — by one of their own, in their own time. If anyone had to break Griffey’s record, Seattle couldn’t have asked for a better torchbearer than Cal Raleigh.