Seattle Times - Pictures of the Year 2025

Bathing in the Win, Aug. 8 | We were treated to many a Gatorade bath in the Mariners’ stretch run. Every night there was a different hero. But on more than a few nights the hero was Cal Raleigh. Still, knowing that a splash bath is coming doesn’t mean it’s going to go the way you think it will. Typically the photographers in the first base well will jockey to an angle where they think the moment will happen. Often, if a player sees or senses the bucket coming, they’ll run away or turn, or possibly the bucket will just miss and hit poor broadcaster Jen Mueller. In this game against Tampa, however, Jorge Polanco took a very roundabout path to get at Raleigh — something it was apparent he’d never see coming. (Mueller, to her credit, never gave the incoming bath away; she just stood there and took it.) Raleigh absorbed the majority of the perfectly placed cooler, basking in the bath as the fans cheered. A magical moment from a magical season. — Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times

Seattle Times - Pictures of the Year 2025