From Data to Diamond: How Adam Jacobson’s Grand Salami Time Gives Mariners Fans a Statistical Edge

In the world of Seattle Mariners fandom, where hope often wrestles with heartbreak, Adam Jacobson has found a unique way to channel his lifelong passion for the team. As the creator of Grand Salami Time, a baseball analytics website focused exclusively on the Mariners, Jacobson merges his love for baseball with his professional expertise in data science. Born in Bellevue, Washington, and raised attending Mariners games at the Kingdome with his season-ticket-holding family, Jacobson’s connection to the team runs deep. After graduating from the University of Washington, his career path took him through tech giants like Amazon and eBay before landing at Walmart, where he currently tackles e-commerce supply chain issues. Even while building his tech career, Jacobson once interned with the Mariners as a business analyst, where he discovered an unsurprising truth about season ticket retention: winning makes a difference.

Grand Salami Time—named after legendary Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus’s iconic home run call—emerged as Jacobson’s passion project during a paternity leave. The site serves as a Mariners-focused version of popular analytics platforms like FanGraphs or Baseball Savant, filling what Jacobson perceived as a gap in Seattle sports media: deep-dive data analysis dedicated to the hometown team. Since launching just a few months ago, the site has already attracted more than 10,000 unique visitors and continues to grow. Fans can explore detailed player analyses, visualizations of performance metrics, and subscribe to a weekly newsletter that cuts through conventional sports coverage with hard numbers and statistical insights. Jacobson isn’t working alone—writer Evan Franklin contributes articles examining player potential, such as whether starting pitcher Bryan Woo might become the next Greg Maddux, while podcast co-host Robby Gross (another UW friend with his own claim to Mariners fame as the 3 millionth fan at the Kingdome in 1997) helps round out the content.

At the heart of Grand Salami Time is the “Playoff Odds Simulator,” which has become particularly relevant during the Mariners’ roller-coaster 2023 season. As of a recent Saturday morning with 21 games remaining, the site calculated Seattle’s postseason chances at 49.1%, breaking down to a 6.9% chance of winning the AL West division, a 42.2% chance of securing a Wild Card spot, and a modest 2.1% chance of winning the World Series. The site also runs alternative simulations based on the WAR (Wins Above Replacement) statistic and playfully tracks the “Jerry Dipoto benchmark”—a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Mariners GM’s comments about consistency. The numbers reflect the Mariners’ recent struggles, having lost four straight games and 15 of their last 21 at the time of reporting, a dramatic reversal from just weeks earlier when Jacobson’s projections showed a 97% playoff probability during the team’s hot streak.

Jacobson’s analytical approach to fandom seems to provide him a unique perspective on the emotional rollercoaster that defines Mariners baseball. “People get way too passionate,” he told GeekWire, while admitting, “I think, ‘Oh, man, the Mariners are blowing it’ and I get frustrated, too. But I kind of expect it.” This blend of passion and pragmatism makes him the perfect creator for a site that delivers cold, hard numbers to a fanbase often running hot with emotion. The tech pedigree behind Jacobson’s analytical mindset runs deep—his mother, Sandra Jacobson, was Microsoft’s longest-tenured female employee when she retired in 2014 after 31 years with the company. “She says I have her side of the brain,” Jacobson noted, suggesting his analytical approach may be hereditary.

The current Mariners slump has put Jacobson in what he describes as “full Mariners fan semi-panic mode,” though he manages to laugh while explaining that for the third consecutive season, Seattle’s playoff hopes will likely come down to a single game. His simulation projects the team finishing with around 83 or 84 wins—a razor-thin margin where “if it’s 84 we’re in, 83 we’re probably out.” The precision of this projection speaks to both the power of analytics and the peculiar brand of anxiety familiar to longtime Mariners supporters. What makes Grand Salami Time special is how it transforms the emotional experience of fandom into something quantifiable without losing the human element that makes baseball compelling.

For Jacobson, Grand Salami Time represents more than just a hobby—it’s a step toward fulfilling lifelong ambitions. Growing up, he dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. More recently, he’s entertained thoughts of one day serving as the Mariners’ general manager. While those specific dreams remain distant for now, his website allows him to contribute meaningfully to the conversation around the team he loves. “It’s always been a dream of mine to work in something that I love,” Jacobson said. “Baseball is just a big hobby of mine.” As the Mariners navigate the final stretch of their season with playoffs hanging in the balance, Jacobson’s statistical insights provide fans with both a clearer picture of reality and a reason to keep hoping—the perfect blend for a fanbase accustomed to both calculated analysis and blind faith. Whether the Mariners ultimately make the playoffs or fall short, Grand Salami Time has established itself as an essential companion for the modern Seattle baseball fan who wants both heart and smarts in their sports coverage.