SEATTLE — If time heals all wounds, not enough of it has passed to satisfy Seattle.
The scars from 1970 might not be fresh, but the stitches are still showing.
That's because the Marines and Brewers don't just have history, each of their existence was dependent on the other.
Each of their existence was prefaced by the Seattle Pilots.
"This was Seattle's entry into the Big Leagues, literally and figuratively," Seattle baseball historian Dave Eskenazi said.
As the city's first Major League Baseball team, the Pilots had dreams of flying high.
"(They were) undercapitalized, inadequately financed right from the beginning," Eskenazi said.
Eskenazi was nine years old for the 1969 season. He went to seven games that year, initially delighted to watch baseball at the highest level, but ultimately disappointed after the novelty wore off.
"By the summer they were not playing well at all, they had some mammoth losing streaks at home," he said.
Those streaks were the least of their problems.
"Plumbing was definitely an issue. Apparently when the crowd reached 10,000 the toilets wouldn't flush," he said.
Sick's Stadium, the sight of Pilots home games, was appropriately named.
"We didn't win and we also can't take a shower tonight," former Pilots outfielder Steve Whitaker said.
Whitaker started his career in luxury with the Yankees, then felt second class when he was traded to Seattle.
"After coming from Yankee Stadium, I mean come on, it was terrible," he said.
"(Seattle) getting a Major League franchise was contingent not only on upgrading Sick's Stadium to Major League standards but also to starting construction on what became the Kingdome," Eskenazi said.
But it was too little too late, and team president Dewey Soriano was feeling the pressure as the new season approached.
Extended interview: Steve Whitaker, former Seattle Pilots outfielder, talks about being on the team
"The mayor of Seattle said they might evict them from the stadium," Eskenazi said. "Bud Selig in Milwaukee at that point got in contact with the Soriano brothers and started secretly talking to them about buying the franchise."
The Pilots were declared bankrupt six days before Opening Day in 1970, which sealed the move to Milwaukee.
"The only time in modern history that a Major League team left a city after one season," Eskenazi said.
Seattle's second chance at an MLB team with the Mariners has gone much smoother.
But blood still boils when facing the Brewers, and a brawl between the two teams in 1990 reflected the feelings of fans.
"Longtime residents of Seattle still very much resent Milwaukee," Eskenazi said.
The Pilots may have been a mess.
But they were missed, and any sight of Milwaukee brings back memories of the time they were taken.
"That memory is still painful for us old timers who were here when the Pilots were here," Eskenazi said.