THANK YOU SLADE GORTON!

As our region enjoys the success of the Seattle Mariners, let’s take a moment to thank former Washington State Attorney General and U.S. Senator Slade Gorton for all that he did to bring the team to the Pacific Northwest and then lead the effort to keep them here when the team threatened to move to Tampa Bay.

In 1970, when the Seattle Pilots were moved to Milwaukee (to become the Brewers) after playing just one season at Sick’s Stadium, new state Attorney General Slade Gorton filed a lawsuit against Major League Baseball for breach of contract. This case resulted in the league granting Seattle the next expansion franchise. In 1977 the Seattle Mariners began playing in the Kingdome.

In 1992, when liberal Seattle, King County, and Washington State politicians bungled efforts to help the struggling franchise, the team threatened to move to Tampa Bay. As the other politicians were more concerned about figuring out who to blame, then U.S. Senator Slade Gorton decided to get to work to find someone to buy the team and keep them in Seattle.

Gorton reached out to the owner of Nintendo Hiroshi Yamauchi, whose company was headquartered in Redmond. Even though he had never been to Seattle or seen a MLB game, Yamauchi agreed to buy the team as a gift to the Seattle region. Gorton then worked to find local investors to buy a stake in the team.

At first, Major League Baseball expressed concerns about foreign ownership, but after the much respected Senator Gorton threatened to remove the league’s precious anti-trust exception, the league approved the purchase.

Slade Gorton passed away in 2020 at the age of 92. The Seattle Mariners are part of Gorton’s legacy.After he retired from the Senate in 2001, he attended many games every year, keeping score on his scorecard the way his father taught him going to Chicago Cubs’ games as a kid. Because of Slade Gorton, many generations of Pacific Northwest fans will enjoy the traditions and excitement of America’s pastime.

If in a few weeks there is a parade through downtown Seattle, liberal politicians will be rushing to get aboard the bus.  But there is truly only one politician who deserves the honor of being recognized with the Seattle Mariners – that is Slade Gorton.

Thank you Slade!