🧹 Seattle's Legion of Broom 🧹

Cal Raleigh homered in three consecutive games as the Mariners ran their win streak to seven games on a weekend when Seattle honored Ichiro.

I, on the other hand, had the privilege of being ready when Tea Leoni asked me for a poop bag.

At the end of this newsletter, you will get the chance to vote on who had the better weekend.

On Saturday morning, I was returning from the park where I take our dog each morning so he can make his morning deposit. As I began to walk back toward our apartment, knotted poop bag in hand, I noticed a lady across the street who appeared to be somewhat forlorn.

“Do you have a poop bag?” she asked.

“I do,” I said, feeling quite chivalrous.

“I was about to go dumpster diving,” she said.

I think I recognized her voice as much as anything. She was wearing glasses that seemed to have a pink-blue tint to the lenses. They may have been slightly reflective. She looked quite fashionable for a Saturday morning dog walk.

I gave her one of my bio corn starch blend ECO-FRIENDLY EXTRA STRENGTH 100% LEAK PROOF bags.

I think that’s Tea Leoni, I thought to myself as I walked away.

Usually, I struggle to recall an actor’s name, but I will know the movies and shows they’ve been in. Tea Leoni is the exact opposite. I know exactly who she is, but other than her most recent television show “Madame Secretary,” I’d be really hard-pressed to spell out her credits.

I just know that whenever I’ve seen her interviewed, she’s come across as charmingly self-deprecating and amazingly relatable for such an obviously beautiful and famous person.

Because this is New York where it’s possible for these type of random encounters to occur, I stopped halfway down the block, pulled out my phone and Googled “Tia Leoni and (the name of my Manhattan neighborhood).”

Yep. She had a place in (my Manhattan neighborhood). I then did what was probably the single most conscpicuous attempt to be inconspicuous by waiting for her to walk by.

She again thanked me for the poop bag. I asked about her dog’s name. “Steve,” she said and when I informed her that was a great name for the dog, she told me he could be a bit of a pill.

She was walking at a fairly brisk pace at this point probably because she feared the guy who gave her a poop bag wanted an autograph or a selfie. In truth, I did want something: a story. I got it.

Madame Secretaries, they’re just like us!

(Full disclosure: Steve is actually her daughter’s dog. He’s a terrier who’s cute as hell and I saw no evidence of him being a pill.)

On Friday, Cal Raleigh homered in the Mariners’ second-to-last at-bat of the game, accounting for every one of Seattle’s runs in a 3-2 victory over Tampa.

On Sunday, Raleigh homered in the Mariners’ second at-bat of the game, scoring the first runs in what wound up being a 6-3 win.

In between those two tent poles, Ichiro gave a rousing speech in which he quoted the great philosopher George Kenneth Griffey Jr., the Mariners retired Ichiro’s No. 51 and Seattle completed its second straight three-game sweep of an opponent.

Oh yeah. Almost forgot. Raleigh had another homer. That won was Saturday. It came after Julio Rodriguez hit a two-run homer in the first and just before Rodriguez hit a solo homer in the third.

Seattle has now won seven in a row, nine of its last 10 and I’m making plans to see them on Friday and Saturday over in Flushing when they face the Mets. If you’re planning on going to either game, reply to this email and we can make plans to meet up.

At 66-53, the Mariners are one-half game behind the Astros in the AL West. Seattle is currently in position to claim the first of the the league’s three wild-card berths.

In the past 20 seasons, there has only been one time that Seattle had a better record at this point of the season only twice. The most recent was 2018, the Mariners were 69-50 and wait a minute, oh my God, why in the world did I bring that season up? That was the year Robinson Cano returned from an 80-game suspension and wound up being subtraction by addition and the Mariners missed the playoffs.

OK. Forget I even mentioned that.

The Mariners are 66-53, their third-best record at this point of the season in any year since 2003. Here’s some crib notes on postseason positioning for this season:

• Astros won two of three in New York vs. the Yankees. Houston has won four of last six games overall. Next up: vs. Boston (65-54), Monday.

• Mariners swept Tampa Bay. They’ve won seven in a row and nine of last 10. Next up: at Baltimore (53-65), Tuesday.

• Rangers swept by Philadelphia. They’ve lost four in a row and seven of their last 10. Next up: vs. Arizona (60-59), Monday.