The Unexpected Joy of Luke Raley

“If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.”

―Mary Oliver, Swan: Poems and Prose Poems

Mary Oliver is a brilliant poet who knows how to capture the essence of the human experience with her prose. She captures the idea that joy can be found anywhere. Of course, what she captures here in this quote is the joy that comes when you least expect it. This isn’t the joy of a beautiful sunset, of a child’s laughter, or an embrace of a long lost friend. That type of joy is riveting, but expected. The type of joy that Oliver writes to here is that joy that slaps you across the face when you weren’t looking. She is talking about Luke Raley.

When the Mariners traded Jose Caballero for Luke Raley in January, the transaction barely registered for the casual Mariners fan. For those of us indundated in the day-to-day, it was a transaction that brought hope and promise. Raley posted a 2.8 WAR with 19 homeruns for the Tampa Bay Rays last year and thus seemed more valuable than many Mariner hitters already. But I didn’t expect to experience the joy that is Luke Raley. The pure, unexpected, uninhibited, joy.

If you look at Luke Raley’s baseball savant page, you won’t find much that stands out. Until you scroll down to his sprint speed. When the M’s traded for Luke Raley, bombs were expected. I mean he earned the nickname “Nuke Raley” with eight homers over 425 feet. But the speed? That took me by surprise. This man is 6’4 and has an 89th percentile sprint speed. And he runs like he is the one experiencing the joy, not us. Kate Preusser of Lookout Landing put into words better than I can.

See the joy for me comes from the way that Luke plays. Kate Preusser gets it clearly. Luke embraces his teammates in Seattle like this is the most fun he has ever had playing baseball. I actually think he is having the same amount of fun he has always had. It is just that we weren’t witnesses to it yet. Raley also just has a knack for delivering amazing moments. Like this one. After Raley’s ridiculous leaping grab, he gave the Julio “No Fly Zone” gesture, showing that enthusiasm for the game that all baseball fans appreciate.

But Raley saved his best moment of unexpected joy for last night.

According to Baseball Alamanac, the squeeze play was invented in 1894 by George Case and Dutch Carter at Yale University. Ignore the fact that Case and Carter sounds like a new lawyer show on TNT, these two were on to something. While home runs bring the headlines, squeeze plays bring the joy.

On a seemingly innocuous night in early June, the Mariners looked hapless and lost. Sort of like they do every night. Despite a 38-30 record and a 5.5 game lead in the AL West, the Mariners are second to last in the majors in strikeout %, third to last in batting average and 24th overall in OPS. While getting dominated by Erick Fedde on Monday, the Mariners had nothing going. Nothing. Until they did. After a Dom Canzone homer, two singles and a walk loaded the bases. And then Julio and and Cal Raleigh struck out (as Mariners do). Somehow Mitch Haniger singled and brought home two runs and gave the Mariners hope. And then Luke Raley came to the plate.

With a 1-1 count and Michael Kopech throwing 100 MPH, Luke Raley decided to bunt to try and tie the game. It is hard to describe how awesome this is. First of all, no one bunts anymore. In fact, Luke Raley’s five bunt hits this season are more than all Mariners combined in 2023. Second, it is really hard to bunt a fastball coming up in and in at that velocity. I haven’t tried it, but I also haven’t tried fighting a mountain lion. I can safely say that both are difficult and not something I am signing up for. But Luke signed up. Lastly, bunting with two outs is a risky proposition. If that bunt goes right back to Kopech, it looks like a silly decision. If Raley pops up the bunt, it looks worse. Even if he fouls the ball back, he is in a 1-2 hole. But Raley doesn’t live in a world of fear.

Watch this bunt. Watch this execution. Watch this excitement.

I get it. Julio is about as exciting as you can get in baseball. And Munoz gives me goosebumps when he is on. And the starting five is unbelievable to watch. But when it comes to joy - especially the unexpected kind - give me Luke Raley.

As Mary Oliver says, don’t hesitate. Lean into it. Jump on the Nuke Raley bandwagon baby. There’s plenty of room and plenty of joy.