It started as an idea of long-time Seattle Mariners fan and Blowout member Larry Andersen and it’s become a phenomenon and a symbol of a team in the hunt for the American League West crown.

It’s the Swelmet — a painted Darth Vader helmet that Andersen wore to a Mariners game in Oakland, an item that caught the eye of the players and an item he traded to the team for a signed Robinson Cano bat.

Now, it’s become a piece that the team awards to a player after sweeps — the “sweep helmet” became “Swelmet” — a piece seen in photos tweeted by the team and a likely future promotional piece if the team can get them made in time.

On May 5, Andersen, aka Jordan23James, took his story to the boards — click here to read it — and it’s grown from there.

Anderson, who was born deaf, told his story to Q13 News in Seattle, which also talked to others in the organization.

“I just didn’t expect this at all,” Andersen told the station. “I didn’t expect it to go viral. I thought it would just be a trade and we’d go home with the bat — no big deal you know except that it’d be a big deal for us. I just hope that it will carry on and that the swelmet will carry something with it through October.”

He’s also gotten attention on the MLB Network last night and enough buzz that the team is working on a promotion so everybody can potentially get their hands on their own Swelmet at a future game.

““We have a team of people working on swelmet production right now,” Kevin Martinez, the Vice President of Marketing for the Mariners, told Q13 News. “It looks like we need about 100 days to put the order in and get them here so we’re trying to see if we can shorten that to really capture the excitement that surrounds it.”

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