Brady's Spin: It's Embarrassing that the Seattle Mariners Aren't Playing on Memorial Day

The Seattle Mariners lost on Sunday afternoon against the Houston Astros, closing out a 10-game road trip on a sour note.

The M's went 6-4 on the road trip through San Diego, the White Sox and Houston and return back to T-Mobile Park on Tuesday night with a 1.5-game lead in the American League West.

And while an off day on Monday is likely a good thing for the team, and for the fans, it's a giant missed opportunity for baseball. It's really this simple: All 30 teams should be playing on Memorial Day and July 4th, and six teams aren't playing on this holiday Monday.

The American Pastime missing a chance to showcase itself on this most American of holidays? It's a fumbling of the schedule in a big way. The Mariners played four games in Houston from Thursday-Sunday, why couldn't that have been done Friday-Monday to ensure that baseball gave itself a chance to own the day entirely? If you look at the NFL, they want to own everything. They've worked to take over Christmas Day, and Black Friday, and they want the draft and free agency to overshadow college basketball's time. There's not a day on the calendar that the NFL doesn't want ownership of and baseball is content to just punt away the gateway to its summer season. It just doesn't make sense to me.

If travel back to Seattle is a big issue, then why couldn't the M's have started the road trip in Houston and ended in San Diego, ensuring that the trip back was short enough so the M's could play Monday?

There were other opportunities on the table to get the logistics worked out, and instead of beers, barbecue and a full ballpark, Mariners fans will be left waiting for just another Tuesday.

It's a giant missed opportunity.

Seattle will host the Nationals on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. PT.