Seattle Mariners fans have Humpy fever. Is it catching?

If you had gone to every Seattle Mariners regular season home game over the last couple of years, you would have seen that only one participant lost every contest, 167 times. That losing streak broke in a big way last Friday night in the 15th inning of the incredibly tense Game 5 of the American League Division Series. In the T-Mobile Park Salmon Run, Humpy came from behind, pushing past King Salmon, Sockeye, and Silver for the win.

That unexpected victory started a cascade of Humpy-related happenings that seems to have no end in sight. To find out more, KUOW’s Kim Malcolm talked Seattle Times reporter Taylor Blatchford, who is writing about the phenomenon.

This interview has been edited for clarity.

Kim Malcolm: For anyone who hasn't really been following this, can you just explain the Salmon Run? What are the Mariners doing with this, and when did it start?

Taylor Blatchford: At the beginning of the 2024 season, the Mariners launched this new part of their in-game entertainment, which is a race between four salmon mascots, the characters that you mentioned. The Mariners started this race in the vein of some other Major League Baseball teams that do mascot races. The Washington Nationals famously do a race between president mascots. The salmon race around the warning track, the dirt strip on the edge of the outfield. It has really become a fan favorite.

What I remember about the Nationals setup is that the rule seemed to be that Teddy Roosevelt could never win. In that vein, Humpy had never won this race until recently. Why is that, and did the fans know that?

I think the fans did know that. The Mariners describe him as their “lovable goofball” out of all of the salmon. He wears an orange life vest, a blue life preserver, and yellow floaties, which is funny because he's a salmon. But on their website, it says that they're not sure if he can swim, if he's a good swimmer.

I think a lot of people were wondering, is he ever going to win a race? When I talked with the Mariners about his historic win last Friday, they just said that he hadn't found his time to shine yet. But then the lights were shining the brightest, the crowd was really excited, he was feeling it, and he finally got that win.

Well, people just erupted. I mean, it just seemed to lift everybody. Some people are tying Humpy's first win to the M's dramatic ALDS 15th inning win last Friday. So, is Humpy the M's new Etsy witch?

The Mariners really stuck it out through a very long game. Humpy obviously was not the one that had the game-winning hit or was able to get on base, but what people told me who were at the game is that the energy in the stadium really came back up after the Salmon Run. The Mariners won the game almost immediately after the Salmon Run.

It's hard to say what effect Humpy had on the actual game outcome, but we do know from research that teams are really energized by their fans. This was a home game for the Mariners and getting that boost from the crowds certainly could have made an impact.

You're working now on a piece for the Times about this Humpy fever we're all experiencing. We're seeing people getting Humpy tattoos. Mayor Bruce Harrell has named October 16 Humpy Day in Seattle. What else should we expect?

When I went to the Mariners' team store on Sunday, they were sold out of all Humpy merch, so I think we can certainly expect them to restock that because there's a lot of demand. In terms of where we can find Humpy next, this morning, he was on top of the Space Needle with the Mariners’ broadcasters and the Mariner Moose to raise the Mariners' flag. His star has been rising, and I think he's not going to disappear anytime soon.

Listen to the interview by clicking the play button above.