Seattle Mariners Extreme Playoff Drought Put In Perspective By Blockbuster's Massive Decline

The Mariners are one win away from clinching a playoff birth. It would mark the organization's first MLB Playoff appearance in two decades.

It has been so long since Seattle was in the playoffs that the entire landscape of movie rentals has changed. Where in-person movie rentals used to be, streaming has taken over and services like Netflix, Hulu and HBO Max lead the charge.

That was not the case in 2001, when the Mariners last made the playoffs. Seattle tied an MLB record with 116 games that season and reached the ALCS after beating Cleveland in the ALDS.

While they didn't reach the World Series, the Mariners did reach the playoffs. In the 20 years since, they have not. They have not even come particularly close.

The last time that the Seattle Mariners were in the playoffs, there were 5,272 more Blockbuster video rental locations than there are today.

There is just one store remaining in 2022. It is located in Bend, Oregon after two other holdouts in Alaska closed their doors in 2018. There were 5,273 stores all across the country in 2001.

Seattle rookie Julio Rodriguez, who was one-year-old when his current team last made the playoffs, may not even know what Blockbuster is. It has been that long. A business that was thriving when Seattle was last in the MLB Playoffs, is now defunct.

To really drive the point home, here is the starting lineup from the last Mariners playoff game:

Every single player from that lineup is retired. Every single one. And some by more than 15 years.

For the Yankees, who won the series 4-1, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Tino Martinez, Jorge Posada, Paul O'Neill and Andy Pettitte were still on the team.

It has been that long.