Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh was ‘robbed’ of MVP, WA Senate resolves

The Washington state Senate declared Monday what many Mariners fans have been thinking this offseason: Cal Raleigh deserved to be named the American League’s Most Valuable Player.

The Mariners’ switch-hitter finished a close second in voting after a historic season that saw him blast 60 home runs, the most ever by a catcher. And he broke Mickey Mantle’s record for dingers by a switch-hitter in a single season.

But that wasn’t enough to dethrone New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge, who also had a historically great season at the plate en route to his second straight MVP.

As the Senate honored the Mariners, Manager Dan Wilson and longtime broadcaster Rick Rizzs sat on the dais alongside Lt. Gov. Denny Heck on Monday.

“WHEREAS, Cal Raleigh, despite setting the MLB record for home runs by a catcher in a season, shattering Mickey Mantle’s record for home runs by a switch hitter, setting a new Mariners home run record, and playing the most physically demanding position on the baseball field, was robbed by national baseball writers when they did not choose him as the American League Most Valuable Player,” the resolution stated, leading to laughs from lawmakers as it was read into the record.

The resolution’s sponsor, Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, put a finer point on it.

“Cal was robbed,” he said on the Senate floor. “That East Coast media doesn’t know anything.”

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President of Baseball Operations Jerry Dipoto and General Manager Justin Hollander sat in the gallery as the Senate honored the team. No players were in attendance.

Lawmakers lined up to take photos with Rizzs, who recently announced this would be his final year calling games, and Wilson after passing the resolution.

Senators spoke of their personal connections to the team.

Schoesler, a farmer, spoke of listening to Rizzs’ voice on the radio while working. Sen. Judy Warnick, R-Moses Lake, remembered her mother-in-law incessantly keeping score of Mariners games at age 100.

Sen. Mike Chapman, D-Port Angeles, remembered his son, then 9, working as junior broadcaster of the day with Rizzs. His son is now 30.

“That moment was the time when we walked out of that booth, he said, ‘Dad, I want to play baseball at a high level,’” Chapman recalled, noting his son played for five years in college.

And Sen. Bob Hasegawa, D-Tukwila, spoke of the importance of baseball to the Japanese-American community.

“The fact that we had Ichiro and others who were breaking the ice so their players could be introduced into America, I think the Mariners deserve a lot of thanks for that,” Hasegawa said.

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The Mariners have a lot to thank the Legislature for.

In 1995, lawmakers approved funding for a new stadium now known as T-Mobile Park, without which the team may have relocated away from Seattle. This came after voters turned down a bond measure to pay for the stadium. (The county bonds to pay for their earlier home, the Kingdome, weren’t paid off until 15 years after the stadium was demolished in 2000.)

More recently, the Legislature earmarked state dollars to get the ball rolling on a new ballpark to house the Single-A Everett AquaSox farm team.

The Mariners lost last year in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, achingly close to the team’s first World Series. They come into the 2026 season with heavy expectations after falling just short. Spring Training begins in Arizona this month.

This story was originally published by the Washington State Standard.