The best sports fandoms have a dose of healthy superstition. If you ask a Mariners fan about the ten-game winning streak earlier in September, it’ll be explained a dozen different ways. Some will point you to the “Etsy Witch,” who was paid to cast a good luck spell over the team. Others will cite the mustache theory, which believes that success correlates to how many players in the clubhouse have the same facial hair.

Everyone can agree on one thing, however: With the most home runs of any catcher in major league history, Cal Raleigh’s the MVP. It’s the three letters you’ll always hear when he steps up to bat. His swings have repeatedly saved the team from dire losses this season. Among locals, he’s “the Big Dumper,” an unquestionable fan favorite. Nationally, he became the Home Run Derby champion back in July, slamming 54 homers in seven minutes or less.

Raleigh’s offensive horsepower has slowed since summertime, but his early explosiveness forced the front office, often criticized for being too fiscally conservative, to actually make some bold decisions, including multiple trades with the Arizona Diamondbacks that added two batters to the offense: the beloved former Mariner Eugenio Suarez and the gruff yet reliable Josh Naylor.

Similar to Raleigh, Suarez became known for his ability to rack up home runs while in Phoenix. While fans hoped he would continue firing on all cylinders, his batting average has decreased by 20% since his return to Seattle. The hope remains that these are just growing pains. Regardless, Suarez’s greatest strength is his ability to raise morale. His teammates have always loved him. His personal motto is “Good Vibes Only.” He’s a man with many, many friends and very few enemies.

“This is my first year playing with him, and he impacted me a lot,” Naylor said. “Just his love of baseball, for his teammates. Kind of high energy every single day... He’s incredible.”

Naylor’s an equally unique bag of talents. He’s one of the slowest guys in baseball. Most players could beat him in a foot race. Yet because of his cunning, he’s paradoxically stolen 16 bases in his short time as a Mariner. Naylor plays smarter, not harder. When he hits a ball, it’s unlikely to leave the park. Instead, he can reliably send it into corners that’ll befuddle outfielders and give himself all the time he needs. When the bases are loaded, he’s the one you want to see holding the bat.

“He’s a really smart, heady player, able to be aggressive with the bases as well,” said team manager Dan Wilson about Naylor. "He wears you down, he grinds you down… That’s just him, that’s what he does.”

With new faces fueling their fire, the Mariners had the strength to tear through their longtime rivals, the Houston Astros, with a crucial, three-game sweep. They’re now on a warpath to win the AL West, a feat they haven’t achieved since 2001. The only challenge left is to survive a home stand against last year’s World Series champions, the Los Angeles Dodgers, before securing their historic victory.

How have they been so dominant, after a 24-year-long drought? It’s not just thanks to Raleigh, or Suarez, or Naylor. It’s thanks to the effort of a whole team, working together in harmony, able to count on each other to get the job done.

“Everybody usually wants to be the guy, but hopefully with the lineup getting deeper and us trusting each other a little more like that, we can rely on each other and we can really try to pass the baton,” said Raleigh, when asked about Suarez in July. “Just not feeling like we need a big three-run homer to win it. We just keep going, just keep passing it.”