TEMPE, Ariz. — Here’s the thing about hope.

It’s stubborn, resilient, like a wildflower in the desert that just won’t die. It’s why we keep watching teams that eternally take, that tease and confound and infuriate. It’s why we suffer and spend in the name of sports. In the pursuit of a summit.

It’s 11:57 a.m. Friday, and there’s a doubleheader on deck. I’m driving in a rented Kia Soul — a charcoal box with a battery — along Route 101 North, past Deer Valley and Desert Ridge. Past shopping malls and cactuses and signs for smiling lawyers. The plan is to attend the Mariners’ game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 1:10 p.m., before traveling 10 more miles for a Kraken-Coyotes nightcap at 7.

I’ll arrive at Salt River Fields in 17 minutes.

But first, I hear a song.

Hold me fast,

Hold me fast,

‘Cause I’m a hoooope-lesssss wanderer

“Hopeless Wanderer” by Mumford and Sons rasps out of the radio, combining keyboards and banjos and acoustic guitars to underscore my mission.

Because, when you look at this lineup … what hope should we have?

The Mariners, first of all, are set for split-squad action — with most starters hosting Milwaukee and the leftovers designated for the Diamondbacks. The batting order Seattle brought to Salt River Fields features no Julio Rodriguez, no J.P. Crawford, no Jorge Polanco, no Mitch Garver, no Cal Raleigh, no Mitch Haniger. And their starting pitcher, Emerson Hancock, has conceded 10 earned runs across 3 2/3 innings in his past two appearances.

On the other side, Arizona — the reigning National League champion — is trotting out its expected opening day order.

To quote fictional boxer/philosopher Clubber Lang: “Prediction? Pain.”

Oh, and that prediction also encompasses the cratering Kraken. Entering Friday, Dave Hakstol’s team has lost six straight, reeling from an untimely injury to defenseman Vince Dunn. With 14 games to go, their playoff odds sit at an unsavory 0.2%. And to make matters worse, they’ll arrive in Arizona for the second leg of a rare road back-to-back, with wobbly legs and corroding confidence.

If we were hoping for wins — or, for a columnist, a compelling story — this might not be our day.

But as Gandalf told Pippin in “The Return of the King,” while forecasting Frodo’s fate: “There never was much hope. Just a fool’s hope.”

We wander anyway.

— 12:52 p.m.: I’m wandering the concourse inside Salt River Fields, a carnival of calories. I’m backstroking through an ocean of beers and burgers and brats, a paradise … for a price.

— $15 for a “domestic tall boy” beer. $9.50 for cinnamon roasted almonds. $15 for the “signature foot long super dog,” a marathon of mystery meat smothered in melted cheese and peppers.

Super dog it is.

“No diet today!” the smiling vendor says, as he hands me a hot dog of physics defying dimensions.

Cue Clubber.

Prediction? Pain.

— 1:49 p.m.: No diary of a Seattle-Arizona doubleheader would be complete without Corbin Carroll. The Seattle native and Lakeside School alum was drafted by the Diamondbacks with the 16th overall pick in 2019, and quickly maneuvered to the majors. In last year’s transcendent rookie season, he hit .285 with 25 homers, 54 stolen bases and 76 RBIs — 165 pounds of surprising power.

He was named an All-Star starter and the unanimous NL Rookie of the Year in 2023.

Don’t expect a sophomore slump.

In the bottom of the third inning, Carroll capitalizes — shooting a single into left field to score center fielder Alek Thomas and give the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. It’s the only run Hancock will concede in four innings of otherwise impressive work.

— 2:08 p.m.: Perhaps this is a day for underdogs, for slingshot-shooting Davids. For undersized prospects sporting astronomical jersey numbers. For a fool’s hope.

In the top of the fifth inning, Brock Rodden — all 5-foot-9 and 170 pounds of him — turns on an 0-2 slider. He belts it 395 feet onto the right-field berm to tie the game.

Here’s the thing about No. 90: He was never supposed to start. Rodden — the Mariners’ 2023 fifth-round pick — was inserted into the lineup only after Ryan Bliss was reassigned. The 23-year-old second baseman makes the most of his moment, also singling and scoring to tie the game in the top of the ninth.

In all, Rodden goes 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI, and the Mariners walk away with a 3-3 tie.

After filing a story, I walk away at 4:29 p.m.

But my day isn’t done.

— 5:23 p.m.: Don’t get me wrong: the Coyotes are no Goliath. At 28-36-5, they sit in seventh place in the Central Division, an afterthought in every significant sense.

Including their accommodations.

In 2021, the city of Glendale and Desert Diamond Arena chose not to renew their operating agreement, casting the Coyotes out. In the seasons since, the team has tentatively relocated to Mullett Arena — cozy capacity 4,600, dubbed “The Party Barn” — home of the Arizona State Sun Devils.

The Coyotes have been uncomfortably crashing on the couch.

And while the franchise flounders, hope for a new home is beginning to fade. Last May, a proposal to build a $2.1 billion arena in Tempe was rejected by the city’s residents. Mullett Arena, meanwhile, features precious little Coyotes branding. The crowded concourses are stocked with bar carts and two “team stores,” which look more like portable closets.

A few minutes before 5:30, I park at a lot outside the arena, facing a banner tied to a chain link fence. Its three-word slogan doubles as a self-deprecating dig.

You guessed it:

“Built to Last.”

— 9:06 p.m.: This is why we wander.

With 12:23 left in a scoreless game, Jared McCann takes a pass in the right slot, considers a shot, then zips a pass to rookie defenseman Ryker Evans. The 22-year-old kid from Calgary fires over the lunging frame of Coyotes goaltender Karel Vejmelka for his first career NHL goal.

You want hope? Here he is.

As Evans pumps his fist and shouts, “Yes!”, McCann hugs him so hard they coast five feet backward. The Kraken are 12 minutes away from a streak-snapping win.

Or an agonizing alternative.

— 10 p.m.: Hakstol stands in a makeshift tent attached to Mullett Arena, hands stuffed in his pockets, attempting to explain why it went awry.

The Coyotes’ Clayton Keller notched the tying goal with just 1:08 remaining, before Arizona winger Dylan Guenther ended the agony in overtime. It’s the Kraken’s seventh consecutive loss, and an all-too-similar story — after Las Vegas found the winning goal with 1:20 left the night before.

“Bottom line: We were in excellent position to win this hockey game,” a harried Hakstol says. “There’s no question that we worked hard to put ourselves in that position. That’s a game we should have been able to close out.”

This, unfortunately, is a familiar refrain.

But one day, the Kraken will win again.

I think.

Here’s to hoping.

©2024 The Seattle Times. Visit seattletimes.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.