Every city swears it can spot a phony. Seattle, and Seattle Mariners fans, actually can. You don’t win over this town with a canned quote and a tip of the cap; you win it with fluency, saying the quiet part out loud about the people in the seats, knowing the lore, and understanding that sports here are stitched together across teams and eras.
Josh Naylor walked in like he’d been taking notes for years. The bat plays, sure. But the sell? The sell is elite. He’s figured out that the quickest way into a Mariners fan’s heart is through the culture, the cross-pollination that makes a Kraken win feel like a push for October, and the old Sonics heartbreak that still has a pulse.