I have to admit that my favorite part of these surveys — and it isn’t even close — is the comments from readers on the open-ended questions. I like to laugh. These make me laugh.
Sure, gauging the pulse of the fan base on the direction the Mariners are heading or the body of work from president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto is certainly fun in its own right, but how on Earth can you compete with this?
What’s the best thing about being a Mariners fan?
“The feeling of being a sad clown with other sad clowns, sad for the same reasons as you, a sad clown.”
I mean, this makes my head hurt a little, but this sentiment (in various forms) was shared by many fans, an understandable reaction for a franchise that hasn’t made the postseason since 2001.
We had more than 1,100 responses to our survey and, in all fairness, the general tone of the comments was pretty … optimistic, both with the direction the club is going, its leadership, prospects and even favorite food at T-Mobile Park.
“Beer, it’s what’s for dinner,” one reader noted. (Note: They aren’t wrong).
These responses are why hearing from you is so much fun, and, really, that’s why we created the 2022 version of The Athletic’s Mariners fan survey in the first place.
Topics ranged from personnel-specific opinions to thoughts on potential free-agent additions (if and when this lockout ever ends) to prospects and more.
So crack open a cold one (it’s almost dinner, after all) and let’s dig into the results.
How confident are you that the Mariners are headed in the right direction?
So this is what optimism looks like? 53.4 percent of you chimed in that you firmly believe the Mariners are headed in the right direction.
