Some MLB franchises are used to winning.
Others, meanwhile, have experienced more than their fair share of failure.
Fans, passionate as they are, often let these failures affect them more than they should.
These three fanbases are the most tortured in MLB, for a variety of reasons.
3. Seattle Mariners
It may not seem like it for national audiences, but the Seattle Mariners have lots of fans.
They are passionate, they read the news every day and are informed about the team, know the most recent transaction, and even the top prospects on the pipeline.
Additionally, there is a substantial number of Mariners fans in other countries, most notably Japan.
Yet the franchise still hasn’t been able to win its first World Series championship.
The Mariners joined the American League in 1977 as an MLB expansion franchise, and the team has always had an impact on the fanbase.
For years, they were a losing team, but starting changing the history in the nineties.
They fielded a winning team for the first time in 1991, and had their first truly great playoff moment in 1995.
That year, the team won its first division championship, and they topped the New York Yankees in five games in the Division Series with a game-winning hit by legend Edgar Martinez, who drove Ken Griffey Jr. home.
But that 1995 team wasn’t meant to win the trophy, and neither was the 2001 team that was led by some rookie named Ichiro Suzuki.
Lots of top players have been with the Mariners: Ichiro, Griffey Jr., Martinez, Jay Buhner, Kaz Sasaki, Jamie Moyer, Randy Johnson, and most recently, Felix Hernandez.
None of them has been able to lead them to a championship.
2. Cleveland Indians
The Cleveland Indians currently have the longest title drought in MLB, with 72 years and counting.
Fans are hurt every time the front office decides to trade a star that is about to become expensive.
In the last five years or so, these players have been members of Cleveland’s roster: Mike Clevinger, Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Brad Hand, Carlos Carrasco, Francisco Lindor, and Andrew Miller.
Cleveland has traded Francisco Lindor, Trevor Bauer, Mike Clevinger, Carlos Carrasco and Corey Kluber in less than two years.
FiNaNcIaL fLeXiBiLiTy
— Prospects 365 ⚾️ (@Prospects365) January 7, 2021
Most of them were either traded or not retained in free agency.
The team does have a fantastic player development and scouting staff, especially when it comes to pitching.
They have a top manager in Terry Francona, as well.
But when it comes to spending money, either on free agents or on their own players in arbitration, they think and act like a small-market team, severely damaging their chances of ending their drought.
They came very close in 2016, but lost Game 7 in a heartbreaking turn of events.
Cleveland is always competitive, but it hasn’t been elite since that season.
It’s painful that a franchise that has had so many great players (Albert Belle, Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Roberto Alomar, Sandy Alomar, and the recently traded stars) hasn’t been able to win since 1948.
1. New York Mets
Whenever something bad happens to the New York Mets, baseball fans around the country have a verb to refer to it.
“Mets are gonna Met,” they say.
The hashtag #lolmets is also popular on the Internet.
lolMets at it again https://t.co/noQQWwN3qb
— Eric Cole (@leprekhan) July 18, 2021
It’s because this extremely loyal and passionate fanbase is sadly used to bad things happening to them.
They tasted glory for the last time in 1986, so it hasn’t been that long, but they have had their fair share of heartache since then.
Some of the best and most iconic players of the franchise, such as David Wright, Mike Piazza, Matt Harvey, Edgardo Alfonzo, Al Leiter, Johan Santana, and other stars, weren’t able to win it all with the Mets.
The Mets lost a World Series with their cross-town rivals in 2000, and were eliminated in the Championship Series on a called strike in 2006.
Fans will vividly tell you all about those moments.
The Mets have MLB’s most tortured fanbase, and it may not be close.
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