SEATTLE — The contrast was what stood out most.

The millisecond it took for each ball to leave the yard vs. the minutes the crowd remained on their feet.

It was representative of the relationship we’ve seen all year between Cal Raleigh and this Mariners crowd — constant power from him and constant praise from them.

Sunday’s record-breaking day was an ode to that bond between the man who won’t stop making history and the fans that can’t get enough.

Raleigh came into the day with an MLB-leading 47 home runs, one short of Salvador Perez’s record for most in a season by a catcher. But upon seeing a four-seam fastball from A’s hurler Jacob Lopez in the bottom of the first inning, Raleigh ripped No. 48 into the upper deck with an exit velocity of 110.9 mph to put the M’s up 2-0. The ovation was as loud as it was long, but nothing compared to what happened an inning later.

Once again, it was Lopez on the mound for the A’s. This time, however, it was a changeup — one that Raleigh lined 412 feet off the left-field video board at 106.9 mph. And there it was — home run No. 49 for Cal. The 28-year-old broke the single-season record for a catcher with 31 games left in the season.

The 37,550 on hand at T-Mobile Park showed their appreciation with their larynxes, as many chanted “M-V-P” as Raleigh rounded the bases. But they didn’t let up once he got back to the dugout. They demanded a curtain call, prompting Raleigh to step out and tip his cap to a fan base watching one of the most surprising — and best — seasons in Mariners history.

“Special moment. I’ll definitely remember that,” said Raleigh, whose team beat the A’s 11-4 to improve to 70-61 and move within two games of the Astros in the American League West. “I didn’t know (the curtain call) would be a thing. They were kind of pushing me out there, and I was ‘I don’t want to look dumb if I go out there,’ but it was really cool seeing everybody up there on their feet.”

He didn’t want to look dumb. As if that were a remote possibility. Raleigh is an All-Star in the other 29 MLB parks — he’s a rock star at T-Mobile. But that speaks to the humility of a man who almost doesn’t seem to understand why he’d receive all this adulation.

It certainly isn’t the kind of season anybody — Cal included — could have anticipated.

You might argue he was the Mariners most consistent player in the three seasons before this one, when he hit 27 home runs in 2022, 30 in ’23 and 34 last year. But he wasn’t the Mariners’ best. Now, however, considering he’s on pace for 60 dingers while playing the most important defensive position, he may very well prove the chants prophetic and earn AL MVP honors by season’s end.

Of course, the admiration goes beyond the fan base. Logan Gilbert — who was in the same 2018 draft class as Raleigh — was on the mound for the Mariners Sunday. And every time he pitches, he stays in the tunnel while his teammates are up to bat. But after Raleigh hit two homers, he came out to watch his third at-bat. He never does that. He felt he had to this time.

“It’s like must-watch TV when he’s just having a normal at-bat,” said Gilbert, who set a career-high with 13 strikeouts in six innings before joking that Raleigh loves stealing the spotlight from him.

Have you seen anything different about him given all his success?

“Honestly, no,” Gilbert said. “He’s the type of player and person that, like, this is who you want it to happen to.”

Part of that is due to Raleigh’s toughness behind the plate. There’s a reason no catcher has ever surpassed 50 home runs in a season the way most other positions have. It’s not just because they are defensive specialists — it’s because of how banged up they get.

Mariners manager Dan Wilson said that as much as he wanted to talk about the home runs after Sunday’s win, he was just as excited about Raleigh’s ability to block on Gilbert’s sinkers. Like Griffey, Alex Rodriguez and Ichiro — the men he’s battling for greatest Mariners season of all time — he is a true two-way player.

But Sunday was about the bombs.

“We had a chance to see all-time history today,” Wilson said. “My only regret is that he didn’t stay out in front of the dugout a little bit longer and enjoy it.”

The good thing is that there’s 31 games left in the regular season, and perhaps a lot more in the playoffs if the Mariners can maintain their three-game lead in the wild-card standings or capture the division.

Count on Raleigh to keep doing this over and over and over again. Like a broken record.

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