The immediate response to David Sims’ call from Yankees Stadium on the night of June 2 was that it was a disaster. The next day Deadspin ran the headline “Mariners Announcer’s Brain Breaks in the Middle of Home Run Call,” and, yes, it had sounded like maybe the Root Sports personality was having an aneurism. The Mariners were up 7 to 2 in the top of the ninth with Kyle Seager at bat. On a 1-1 count, the third baseman swung, made contact, and then this came out of Sims’ mouth: “There’s a drive, deep right field. Say ‘Goodbye.’ Hey, Lloyd! Do some . . . delivery—for the truck—to the airport.” Now there is some context for this mouth garbage. At the moment that Seager hit that dinger, Sims later said, he was tangling with a couple thoughts. It was the ninth, and he was thinking about the team’s trip to the airport after the game to fly to Atlanta, and the fact that manager Lloyd McClendon often rewards his team with ice cream when they excel. When the homer flew, Sims was caught off-guard, and tried to stitch his disparate thoughts together with a delivery truck. Whatever. The call has since become a touchstone among serious Mariners fans, a reminder of how unexpected the team’s success has been.

Read all of our picks for Sports & Adventure, and explore the rest of this year’s edition of Best of Seattle.