June 18th, 2024
Daniel Kramer
@DKramer_This story was excerpted from Daniel Kramer’s Mariners Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
SEATTLE -- One of the underappreciated highlights of the Mariners’ dominant 6-1 homestand was the way Cal Raleighand Luke Raley admired each other after the walk-off homer in extra innings on June 10, when Raleigh crushed a game-winning grand slam, two innings after Raley tied the game with a bunt on a 99.1 mph up-and-in fastball.
They were perhaps Seattle’s two biggest plays of the week despite coming in the same game. They were each vital to that victory yet were also drastically different from each other, underscoring the value of each player’s skill set.
Here’s Raley on Raleigh: "I don't think anyone's as important as Cal is to this team. He's as much of a workhorse as I am."
And Raleigh on Raley: "Getting to know him over these last few months has been amazing. He's a guy I'd love to be a teammate with for the rest of my career."
Hearing teammates praise one another in front of cameras is standard procedure, even for those that aren’t close friends. But the specific commentary from Raleigh and Raley spoke volumes to the bond that they’ve formed.
It’d be one thing to hear Ty France express happiness for the breakout year of good buddy Dylan Moore, or Bryan Woo rave about Bryce Miller, after each was called up around the same time last year from Double-A Arkansas.
But Raleigh and Raley have only been teammates for a few months, and because of the chaotic nature of Spring Training, where there were as many as 70-plus people in the big league clubhouse in the early days, they didn’t connect much in Arizona.
Plus, catchers are the busiest players in camp, arriving in the 5 a.m. hour and before everyone else, rotating bullpen sessions among the army of arms and playing in Cactus League games. And Raley was off to a particularly tough start while trying to find his swing and establish himself.
“I really didn't get to talk to Cal that much throughout Spring Training,” Raley said. “It's been more like once we get into the season and stuff. But yeah, it's just nice to have a guy like that where it’s a pretty easy friendship and a good guy to have in your corner.”
The bromance mostly blossomed on team flights. The Mariners will cover more miles (47,438) than any team that doesn’t play internationally this season, so naturally, there has been time to chat. Raleigh and Raley struck up a few card games on the season-opening road trip -- Bourré and Acey-Deucey are among their favorites -- and now sit side-by-side on the road.
There’s also a fishing trip in the works for the All-Star break at Lake Chelan in Central Washington, unless either is selected for the Midsummer Classic in Arlington on July 16.
“I feel like I've been here for years at this point,” Raley said. “I'm just comfortable with everybody, and everybody has kind of got to see my true personality. It's hard when you first come into Spring Training to totally show your true personality. I can be a lot sometimes; I'm very sarcastic and goofy.”
Raleigh is a homegrown Mariner, drafted in the third round in 2018, then he grew up in the Minors with others of a similar trajectory, like Logan Gilbert. Raley arrived here in a January trade with the Rays for infielder Jose Caballero, and the Mariners are his fourth organization. Tampa Bay infielder Taylor Walls, who played with Raleigh at Florida State, made sure that the two eventually collaborated.
Yet despite their different paths here, there was probably always going to be a natural attraction. Raleigh and Raley are both blue-collar players who were raised in a supportive-but-stern upbringing. As such, they demand excellence from their teammates but also exhibit strong loyalty.
“Obviously, he felt comfortable in Tampa, had a good year,” Raleigh said. “Getting traded was probably a shock for him. You try to do that with everybody, not just him. I try to do that with any young guy or any guys trying to make his way to the team -- because the more comfortable they are, the better they're going to play.”
Raleigh and Raley were actually first acquainted last September, when the backstop threw out the outfielder at Tropicana Field for one of the only three times he was caught stealing. Neither guy has brought it up yet, but maybe it’ll be some good-natured fodder for the future.
