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Ichiro runs during his annual independent training in Japan before the spring training stars.

Baltimore 3, Seattle 2

Oh wow, that was a terrible game. The M's were leading 2-0 on Felix's good outing until the 9th when our temp closer gave it all up to the Orioles.. I would have been mad if I weren't used to low expectations and disappointments. As it is, I just feel bad for Felix, who has nothing to show for his efforts.

Ichiro went 1-4 with one run. He's hitting .250 right now. I expect the average to go up soon though.

The final game of the 4-game series tomorrow at 12:05PM PDT. It can't be over soon enough.

Go Ichiro!

Bet you didn't think it was gonna happen.

Sorry for disappearing for such a long time. I was caught up in life (yes, I do have one), but no trivial matters like life or reality are gonna keep me away from obsessing over Ichiro .. not for too long anyway. To update about my life for those who care, I am back in Canada after the one-year stint in Japan. It was fun while it lasted, but I was actually too busy to follow Ichiro when I was living in his native country. As it turned out, I only got to buy a few magazines featuring Ichiro and watch him on TV a few times and nothing else. Wish I had had the opportunity to visit the Ichiro museum, but it'll have to wait until I go back to Japan next time.

Now I'm back, it's business as usual. I'll post about Mariners games and everything and anything related to Ichiro. Again, this is just an outlet for my Ichiro obsession, so there will be a lot of fangirling going on here. Yap, business as usual. -:)

Someone wrote a pretty informative piece about Ichiro's base stealing success rate (95%!) this season and its impact on winning.

But the undisputed king here is Ichiro. He may not have stolen as many bases as Reyes and Crawford, but his ability to pick his spots has actually created more runs. So although we think of him as a great contact hitter first and foremost, maybe we need to better appreciate him as the best base stealer playing today. >> MORE.

I can't seem to keep updating regularly can I? Anyway, I'm back in Canada right now for the summer, and it's so nice to be able to watch the M's on TV again. After losing the series to the Boston Red Sox, the M's swept the awful Baltimore Orioles. Now they are the front runner in the wild card chase for the very first time this season. After going 9 for 16 in this series, Ichiro's .350 current batting average is the best in the league. It'd be awesome if he could keep this up and get another batting title under his belt.

The M's are playing the White Sox next. They need to capitalize playing crappy teams and keep up the winning streak. It's going to be a close race up to the very end. Baseball is fun again.

Go Mariners!

It's nice being Ichiro.

From MLB.com:

the report said the Major League's all-time single-season hits record holder received a $5 million signing bonus, plus yearly salaries of $17 million from 2008 through 2012, of which $5 million is deferred at 5.5 percent interest. The $25 million deferred money will be paid out in annual installments each Jan, 30, beginning with the first year of his retirement from MLB until at least 2032.

He also receives a $32,000 annual housing allowance next season, and $1,000 yearly increases through the life of the new contract. Ichiro also receives four first-class round-trip tickets between Japan and Seattle each year, a personal trainer and an interpreter. >> More

More at SeattlePI and Yahoo News.

M's won the series against the Orioles and pulled within 1 game behind the division leader L.A. Angels and wildcard leader Cleveland Indians. Ichiro is back to form, going 2-4 with 1 run a 1 RBI in today's game. It doesn't seem like the injury was anything series, and Ichi got to regroup and started hitting again, so all is well.

The M's are playing the Toronto Blue Jays next. Let's take another series from a mediocre team.

Go Mariners!

USA wrote up one of the nicest articles about Ichiro back in May. I decided to archive it here. If you've never read it before, check it out.

"When people get placed upon a pedestal ― when they start chasing after that person on the pedestal ― they become mannequin-like. People striving for approval from others become phony. You should seek approval from yourself."

I'm going to start compiling Ichiro quotes. Ichi gives the funnies quotes ever. I think most of his funny quotes result from the combination of the too literal translation from Japanese to English and his dry sense of humour. It would have taken a while for me to dig out all the quotes and list them here, but someone cool already compiled a nice list of quotes. I will be adding more quotes myself whenever I find them, either funny ones or insightful ones. You guys are welcome to add more too by commenting here.