Cal Raleigh’s 60th Seals It: The Night Seattle Took Back the West

Two swings, one division. Cal Raleigh became the first catcher ever to hit 60 home runs, and the Mariners clinched the AL West—reframing the MVP race in one historic night.

Cal Raleigh after winning the 2025 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. Photo: Associated Press

I’ve said it all week: hardest to replace > loudest totals. Last night, Seattle got both in one player.

Cal Raleigh didn’t just add to a stat column—he rewrote it. With home runs No. 59 and 60, he became the first catcher in MLB history to reach 60. Seattle beat Colorado 9–2 to clinch the AL West for the first time since 2001.

The details mattered. No. 59 was a 438-foot upper-deck rocket in the first inning off Tanner Gordon; No. 60 came in the eighth. Luis Castillo set the tone with 7⅓ innings of one-hit, one-run ball and 10 strikeouts, and Seattle’s surge kept rolling: six straight wins, 16 of the last 17.

Why 60 hits different at catcher: the position is a daily grind—game-planning, framing, blocking, leading a staff—and Raleigh stacked historic power on top of all of it. That’s scarcity of skill at a premium spot, not just a loud number.

Why last night matters in baseball history

The 60-HR club (and why a catcher in it is unprecedented).

Sixty isn’t just a round number—it’s a club with only a handful of names in 150+ years: Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Aaron Judge, Roger Maris, Babe Ruth… and now Cal Raleigh. No catcher had ever been here. Even the greats at the position top out lower because of the job’s grind—think Salvador Pérez, Johnny Bench, Javy López, Mike Piazza. Raleigh didn’t just clear the catcher bar—he vaulted into one of the smallest clubs in sports and did it while running a pitching staff night after night.

How the Mariners’ clinch fits their story.

This is Seattle’s first AL West title since 2001, the 116-win season that still stands as an AL record. Before they broke the playoff drought in 2022, the Mariners went two decades without October. Last night’s banner is only the fourth division title in franchise history—1995, 1997, 2001, and now 2025—and they did it behind elite starting pitching and a catcher having a once-in-a-lifetime season. That’s the kind of convergence that redefines a window, not just a week.

Signature-moment weight for MVP voters.

Voters remember when it happened. A catcher hitting No. 60 on the same night his team clinches the division blends loud production with team impact. Even if you’re a pure-value voter, that’s the rare box-check where narrative and numbers agree. Bottom line: two swings, one banner, and a catcher redefining value in real time.