Spike Friedman joins the podcast! It was great! Follow Spike on Twitter for a look into his brain, or on Instagram to see his dog Edgar Martinez Friedman.

0:00-11:45: Obviously, we start with some Kendall Graveman and Wally Joyner goss. As always, then we get into Spike’s entry point to Mariner fandom and reminisce about our favorite guys who weren’t actually very good. Then, somehow for the first time in this podcast series, we mourn the Ben Broussard trade.

11:50-25:15: A love letter to Bret Boone, one of the few people who was probably stoked to become a Mariner. Jerry Dipoto may not be as accomplished as John Schneider, but at least he’s not a movie quote frat bro. Spike shares the story of moving away from the Northwest in 1995, a year in which things happened. How the Mariners' rise mirrored that of grunge music.

25:20-34:40: The requisite Edgar Martinez appreciation chat. Spike’s highest volume of Mariner consumption did not coincide with wins. The same can sadly be said about or deposed king of pitching. We liken the final Félix game to the series finale of a beloved television show.

34:45-48:55: Going all in on…Bill Bavasi and falling victim to the quasi-gaslighting of the mid-2000s. If you’re playing a weird drinking game where you do a shot every time Jarrod Washburn is mentioned, pour up! Stupidly, we then talk about all of the Mariners’ draft failures. “This team ruined my life in many deep and profound ways […] horrible, darkness, tragedy.”

49:00-1:11:54: Carlos Triunfel, where you at? Matthew plugs his own Sporcle quiz, and Spike flexes his deep-rooted knowledge of Mariner shortcomings. To wrap things up, we talk about a Grantland article Spike wrote about Dustin Ackley in 2013, and put our hand longingly on the Cliff Lee window.

Music: “Calabria 2007” by Enur // “Day I Die” by The National