The world's biggest pop star when the Mariners last won. (Paul Skenes photo unavailable.)

The Seattle Mariners led the AL West for much of the summer, shockingly, since they were not that good, but everyone else in the division was even worse. Until they weren't. Until the Astros started Astroing and took over the lead again in ... was it August? I guess July and August. Just Googled it and got this via Daniel Kramer at MLB.com:

The Mariners carried a 10-game lead atop the AL West entering June 19 before squandering it on July 19 in just 24 games, the shortest span — by far, per Elias — for any team to lose a double-digit lead in the divisional era (since 1969). A more elongated stretch of struggles pushed Seattle from occupying sole possession of a playoff spot since Aug. 7.

And last night, the Astros clinched—for the seventh time in eight seasons—and fittingly against the Mariners. Care to guess who won the division the time the Astros didn't? It was 2019, 'Stros were wild card and wound up in the World Series, but the division winner was ... the Oakland A's. Soon to be Vegas or Sacramento A's. Or Portland A's? That would make way more sense but MLB is into the gambling these days. There's no addiction they won't push on fans already addicted to baseball.

Anyway, while figuring out the A's answer, I came across this Wiki page on the AL West and its winners: all that strata, all those epochs. I could go into the usual on how much time has passed since the Mariners last won it in 2001: eggs cost this, Kamala Harris worked for the city attorney in San Fran, Taylor Swift was 11, Paul Skenes was in utero. The Astros weren't even in the division at the time, and wouldn't be for another 10+ years. Meanwhile, the A's were being followed by Michael Lewis, and the Angels were just beginning their phase of going through about 12 name changes before deciding on ... I can't even remember. The Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles in California?

Here, let's just focus on the stats since 2002. It ain't pretty:

* since 2013 

Seriously, heads in Seattle should be rolling. Like 10 years ago.