Just read this awesome story from the All Star game in New York and it made me how awesome Ichiro really is (again).
Every year, after the AL manager addresses his team, Ichiro bursts from his locker, a bundle of kinetic energy, and proceeds, in English, to disparage the National League with an H-bomb of F-bombs, stunning first-timers who had no idea Ichiro speaks the queen’s language fluently and making returnees happy that they had played well enough to see the pep talk again.
Now there are people who think the Mariners should trade Ichiro and those people are complete idiots. Not just because he is their most marketable star and probably responsible for 99% of all foreign revenue. Not because his contract makes him virtually untradeable to all but a few clubs, but because he makes it fun. The way he made his fellow all-stars feel before the game is the same way he makes the fans feel every time they watch him play. The Mariners are an awful, awful team and even when they’re good they’re not that fun too watch. “Double by Ibanez, groundout by Vidro, Ibanez stops at third, Beltre with the sac fly.” Whoopty freakin doo, but with Ichiro and to a lesser extent Felix you are virtually guaranteed to see one thing awesome each game. One thing that will make you remember why you like this god awful team. I gave up on this season a long time ago, but in August when the Mariners have a three game series with the White Sox in Chicago I am going to be there. I am going to be at as many of the games that I can and the reason is Ichiro. I love to see him play and if he’s not on the team there’s a good chance that I won’t even bother.
