The Rally Always Comes
After what I’ve calculated to be over a thousand Mariners games through the years, I finally made it to my first playoff game. And not just any game—one that went fifteen innings, deep into the night, full of tense moments, missed chances, and finally, pure joy. The kind of game that reminds you why you keep showing up year after year.
I’ve spent decades cheering for the Mariners through every imaginable season: the promising starts, the painful collapses, the rare streaks of magic that keep you believing. Baseball, like leadership, has a way of testing your patience. You never really know which night will be the one that makes all those other nights worth it. Friday was that night.
Behind the Scenes of Every Great Moment
Over the years, I’ve shared many of those games with friends who worked for the organization, including my longtime friend Kelly Walsh. Kelly spent seventeen years helping build the fan experience that defines Mariners baseball—the details most fans never see but always feel.
The signage, the promotions, the rhythm of the stadium soundtrack, the way the crowd is engaged inning after inning. Those elements don’t just happen. They are built, refined, and perfected by people behind the scenes who believe in the product long before the scoreboard reflects success.
Many of the memorabilia pieces lining my office walls came from those years. Bats, ticket stubs, photos, and souvenirs that carry more meaning than their surface value. To me, they are reminders of teamwork, consistency, and pride in the craft—all the invisible effort that fuels every inning of every season.
That same behind-the-scenes spirit was alive on Friday night. The Salmon Run, Humpy’s first-ever victory, and the rally that finally broke the tie in the 15th inning—they were the visible payoffs of years of preparation and culture. When that rally came, it didn’t just feel like the team had earned it. It felt like every person who had believed, worked, and invested behind the curtain was finally rewarded too.
The View From the Stands
I was there with my friend Jim Records, another lifelong Mariners fan I’ve known since college. Jim and I have sat through cold April nights where you could see your breath in the stands. We’ve watched late-season heartbreaks when the playoffs slipped away by a single game. We’ve experienced the quiet exits from the ballpark after walk-off losses that leave you wondering why you care so much.
Friday night was different. It was a reminder that showing up—through the long, unrewarding stretches—matters. When the final hit dropped and the crowd erupted, the years of loyalty suddenly felt like part of something bigger.
And yes, that was me right over the score on national TV in the game-winning clip, wearing the blue jacket and celebrating like a lifelong fan finally seeing it happen. That was not planned. It was pure reaction, decades of waiting condensed into one moment.
Lessons from the Dugout to the Office
Kelly and I recently recorded a conversation about teamwork, leadership, and business operations that I’ll be sharing soon. The parallels between professional sports and property management are closer than most people think. Both rely on systems, preparation, and a relentless focus on culture.
In baseball, culture determines how a team responds after an error, a bad inning, or a losing streak. In property management and operations, culture determines how a team reacts when a compliance deadline shifts, a system fails, or a resident issue escalates.
The common thread is consistency. Winning teams don’t rely on luck. They rely on preparation, process, and belief in one another.
A great clubhouse and a great corporate culture share the same DNA:
• A clear game plan.
• Trust between roles.
• The discipline to execute when pressure hits.
When those things align, you see performance that looks effortless from the outside but is built on layers of unseen effort.
The Rally Always Comes
In baseball, you learn to live with uncertainty. You can go weeks without seeing results, but if you keep doing the right things, the rally eventually comes. The same principle applies in leadership.
There are seasons in every business where the wins are hard to find. Teams feel tired. The metrics look flat. The workload never seems to end. But in those stretches, leadership is not about grand gestures or quick fixes. It’s about showing up, holding the line, and reminding your team that consistency compounds.
Just like baseball, the late innings belong to the teams that stay patient. The rally doesn’t always happen when you want it to. It happens when you’ve earned it—when preparation, belief, and persistence finally align.
What Baseball Teaches About Leadership
Watching that 15-inning game felt like watching a microcosm of leadership in action.
You start strong with a plan, but the game rarely unfolds the way you expect. You make adjustments. You rely on your bench. You trust your bullpen. You face setbacks that force you to improvise. Somewhere along the way, the game becomes less about the scoreboard and more about how you respond to the moments that test you.
I thought about the property managers and regional leaders across our portfolio who do the same thing every day. They manage crises, deadlines, and decisions that never go quite as planned. They keep their teams steady when others panic. They show up. They keep believing that the rally will come.
And it does. Maybe not on your timeline, but it comes.
Executive Reflection
Whether it’s baseball, property management, or life, persistence pays off.
The teams that succeed over time are not the ones who win every day. They are the ones who keep showing up, even when the scoreboard doesn’t favor them. They learn, adjust, and play the long game.
Friday night reminded me why I have stayed loyal to this team and why I believe in the long view of leadership. The rally always comes—it just requires faith, preparation, and consistency long before it does.
At Weishaar Strategic Partners, that is what we help leaders build: the systems, habits, and team culture that make the late-inning rallies possible. Because whether it’s a property team under pressure or a baseball team chasing history, success belongs to those who stay ready for the moment when it finally arrives.
So keep showing up.
Keep building.
Keep believing.
The rally always comes.
