Results tagged ‘ Ichiro ’
Raul real
Seriously, how is it that Raul Ibanez has yet to make an All-Star team? Maybe he’ll have better luck in the National League, eh?
Part of the problem the last couple of years has been that he was on the Mariners, the Mariners weren’t very good, and they already had a perennial All-Star outfielder in Ichiro. So if it’s one and done, it’s going to be Ichiro. Two years ago, it was Ichiro and closer J.J. Putz. Tough spot.
Might it be better in Philly? Sure. And you’d think the players’ vote would get him in, at least. This guy plays the game like it should be played, and he’s at times truly explosive offensively — see: his three HRs and nine RBIs in the last three games.
This is one of those guys who is an All-Star without portfolio. He’s clearly among the elite — fantasy players will tell you that — and he’s an upgrade in pretty much every way over a pretty good player himself in Pat Burrell.
Fact is, Ibanez was hands-down the best free agent signing of the offseason, and he’s not disappointing one bit.
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Hammer and Ian,
And some pitching this summer?
Watch out for Rangers
Two weeks in a day
What we learned last week:
Baseball connects us all to many great things, and it connects us all to the horribly tragic sometimes as well.
Junior, it’s like you never left, there you go trotting around the bases for the Mariners.
One of the first teams to five wins — the . . . Padres? No offense, but what in the name of Nate Colbert is going on here?
Albert Pujols is a good hitter. He hits baseballs very hard. Oh, we knew that.
Even if you’re not a fan of the Marlins or of a certain leadoff hitter named Emilio, there’s not too many things as fun to say as . . . Bonifacio!
What we will learn this week:
Just how different Citi Field is from Shea Stadium as a home ballpark, starting with “oh, a whole lot” and going from there. And then, how games will look being played in a Yankee Stadium that’s across the street from the truly hallowed ground.
How Ichiro and Junior look in the same outfield.
Once again just how much Jackie Robinson means not only to baseball but really to the world, some 62 years later.
Exactly how many swings and exactly how many ground balls and exactly how many fill-in-the-blanks Alex Rodriguez does in each workout in Tampa.
Which teams are really on to something, and which ones were toying with us early.
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Calling time, step out,
Watch out, here’s an April buzz –
Angels-Sox: rivals
Japan 2, World 0
If you like ball, you were watching, or at least you wish you were watching. If you not only know but appreciate the difference between manufacturing a run and waiting for the three-run homer, you were liking what you saw. And if you like title games going into extra innings, you couldn’t turn away.
On Monday night, Japan beat Korea in the best baseball game of the year, hands down. Of course, that’s normally easy to say in March, since there normally haven’t been any that count up to now — unless you have the World Baseball Classic playing.
The Samurai made it 2-for-2 in Classics with their 5-3 victory over Korea in 10 innings, a game that saw clutch hitting, some nasty pitching, hard-nosed play and the right guy up in the right situation, in the end. That was Ichiro, that was runners on second and third, and that was the ballgame when he laced it to center.
It might not have been the most thrilling game of the tournament — that belongs to Team USA’s comeback over Puerto Rico. It certainly wasn’t the most stunning — let’s go ahead and give that to the second Dutch victory over the D.R.
But Monday night’s final was the best display of what this thing’s all about, and that’s showing just how global our pastime has become. Did you check those crowd shots from Korea? They were going nutty. Dodger Stadium was electric, and it wasn’t just hype or nationalistic cheering.
It was dramatic baseball, well-executed baseball, and just good stuff.
Whatever changes might occur with the Classic in the future, it’s pretty close to hitting the mark here if this is where it winds up in the final. It needs some tweaks, it needs some solutions to some problems. But the fact that Japan and Korea met in the final and put on a thrilling show isn’t the problem.
What was on display Monday night was everything that is, was and will continue to be right about this tournament: Two sharp teams met for a title in March, and the better team won by an eyelash.
Arigato, Japan. Kamsamnida, Korea.
WB-See it
Monday was like picture day at school for the World Baseball Classic, the day when most of the mini-camps filled with players all dressed up in their new duds, the ones they’ll wear — they hope — until March 23, when they get ‘em all soaked in celebratory champagne.
Of course, only a select few of those clubs have that actual opportunity, but they were all out and all spiffy as camps opened, with A-Rod switching USA for Dominicana on the front of his jersey, Jeter still going with the Captain America look and everybody north of the border now knows where they can get them some Stubby Clapp.
Over in Tokyo, they’ve already moved on to exhibition games and roaring crowds, cheering their Samurai. Heck, even Ichiro has gotten a 3-for-23 slump out of the way. (Which probably means about a 15-for-23 is coming as Pool A begins.) Japan’s already gearing up for the title run — and we mean the country, not just the squad – and it’s kind of hard not to peg them as a favorite as they kick things off at 4:35 a.m. ET on Thursday.
Best of all: It’s ball, folks. It’s like a bonus to Spring Training, a soft and creamy center to the chocolate goodness you get every year.
And it’s enough to keep you up real late Wednesday night or up real early Thursday morning to watch it all begin.
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Samurai, put up
your swords for a springtime duel –
they’re all after you
A world of ball — Classic
Ichiro, Papi and Jeter. Bay, Morneau and Peavy.
See you in St. Louis for the All-Star Game?
Well, probably. But, first, see you in San Juan for the World Baseball Classic. And Toronto, Mexico City and Tokyo. And then Miami and San Diego.
Then, finally, in Los Angeles, at venerable Dodger Stadium for the finals.
Baseball’s round-the-world journey of a tourney is about to begin, and the stars are shifting their springs around to play for their countries. The rosters were set Tuesday, and the first games are about a week away.
Can it top 2006? Absolutely not. There’s no way to recapture the newness, the freshness and, for most everyone, the surprising degree of entertainment and competition. From the fundamentals and fire of the Cubans to the wave of Korean fans in Anaheim to Aki’s celebratory shout in San Diego, it was an amazing spectacle — and considering Team USA didn’t exactly set the world on its ear, that’s saying something.
But the 2009 Classic will be something to watch. WBC 2.0 is just brimming with possibilities, starting with possible redemption for the U.S. But what’s cool is that there is a world of possibilities, starting with defending champ Japan’s chances of repeating.
How much has Cuba’s team changed? You know it still has a battery of Pedro Lazo and Ariel Pestano that can stack up with anybody, and a ton of talent throughout. How much better are the teams on the lower end of the totem pole, like South Africa and Australia? And how about China?
Ah, more ball to discuss. More teams, more players to watch in a different setting. It’s the World Baseball Classic again, and it’s a good thing.
What’s not to like?
Yakyu Haiku
That’s the American tradition of baseball in Japanese, and here’s an Americanized version of a Japanese tradition:
Ichiro, sumo
in the sun, just watch him hit!
Some kind of freak, dude
Party like its 1999, Seattle
Leave it to a guy nicknamed Junior to make going home look so good.
The reunion of Seattle and superstar on Wednesday just fits, always has, and probably should have happened some time ago. All you needed to see was Ken Griffey Jr.’s homecoming two years ago when he was with the Reds and the continued adoration last year while with the Sox to know: This is how it should be.
Yes, he’s a senior Junior with a recent medical log that doubles as his locker stool. No, he’s not the Kid anymore who spiked the wall and pushed 50 homers every year. Guess what? This isn’t the move to put the Mariners over the top. The top’s a bit beyond his reach right now, even back in the day.
Call it marketing, call it whatever you want. The Kid is back, and if there’s something wrong with that, there’s something wrong with this picture.
For one thing, it’s been a hard, hard sports year in the Northwest, don’t you know? The Mariners didn’t do so hot, the state’s two major college football teams went historic in a bad way, it’s hard for anyone outside Seattle to tell you much about the Seahawks and, well, the Sonics simply live in Oklahoma City now. And they’re as bad as their uniforms, so maybe it’s spreading.
But the Mariners are trying to start anew with GM Jack Zduriencik, who’s bringing in a rebuilding process from within and from the outside. With Ichiro as a cornerstone, they’re remaking themselves, but ready for King Felix to go all royal on the AL for a season and for a few others like Adrian Beltre to deliver the goods. If they succeed in 2009 and compete in the AL West, they will have surprised us all — and themselves.
It’s a pretty good guess right now that Junior’d be a big reason why. And wouldn’t that be something?
What’s wrong with a little flashback, back, back to the wall in center? Didn’t your mind flash back to that dog pile with the laughing kid at the bottom, or that smooth swing in its prime? Doesn’t it now? The No. 1 pick whose rise through the ’90s in the Kingdome led to Safeco Field, returning to the scene of the prime. It’s a good thing.
And so Wednesday was about stars returning, whether it’s to that place where it all started, or that place where it’s always been — see: Derek Jeter, holding court in the dugout in Tampa. They’re filing in to camps, one by one and in bunches. They’ll all be there soon.
That includes Junior heading back to Peoria, en route to Seattle.
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