The Double (Seattle Mariners)

The Double (Seattle Mariners)

The Double was a double hit by the Seattle Mariners' Edgar Martínez in Game 5 of Major League Baseball's 1995 American League Division Series on October 8, 1995. Trailing by one run in the bottom half of the 11th inning, with Joey Cora on third base and Ken Griffey, Jr. on first, Martinez's hit drove in Cora and Griffey, giving the Mariners a 6–5 victory over the New York Yankees to clinch the series, 3–2. The play is held to be the "biggest hit in franchise history."

Amid rumors that the team would be sold and/or relocated, the Mariners—who had had only two winning seasons (1991 and 1993) since beginning play in 1977—had an unprecedented 1995 season, in which they mounted a late-season comeback to clinch their first postseason appearance in franchise history. They then mounted a series of comebacks in the ALDS, first overcoming a 2-game series deficit to force a deciding Game 5, then tying Game 5 in the 8th inning to force extra innings, and finally a one-run 11th inning deficit that was overcome by the Double.

The hit is regarded as the defining moment of Martinez's 18-year Major League Baseball career. Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus' call of the play—which is equally memorable to Seattle fans as the play itself—is also regarded as the highlight of his career. The play is also credited with keeping a Major League Baseball team in the city of Seattle, as it helped garner support for a new taxpayer-funded stadium for the Mariners. That stadium, known today as Safeco Field, opened in 1999, with the Double depicted in a mural as part of the stadium's art collection.