Mariners Analysis

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

Ichiro starting to get national attention

In talking with M's fans, I notice a lot of talk about Ichiro not getting the attention he deserves. Basically the theory goes like this- Ichiro is having a better season than in 2001, when he won the MVP, so why not more attention now?

Talk radio is filled with this type of discussion. Of course the answer is pretty simple- the M's won 116 games in 2001, and now are one of the worst teams in baseball. That answers the MVP side of it anyway.

And of course the other problem is that people get used to a certain level of performance and are simply not as dazzled the second time around. Ask Barry Bonds or Atlanta season-ticket salespeople for examples of this type of behaviour.

Still, the national press is starting to notice Ichiro is doing something most of us have never seen- example

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I see our good friend Lou wasn't real happy about the Yanks wanting the Devil Rays to forfeit after having problems with a HURRICANE-
Lou's comments

“I know the Yankees are in a pennant race, but I also know that our kids are young and have a lot of young kids at home. There was flooding, there are a lot of things that occurred over a two-day period in Florida, and I think everybody was more comfortable being with their family than being in New York sitting in a hotel waiting to play a baseball game.”

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I hear that Ben Davis may get a chance to be the starting catcher for the White Sox next season. Did the M's give up on him too soon?

He's having a nice season so far- it will be fascinating to see if Davis can rebound from his fiasco here.

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There is NO chance Beltran or Beltre signs here. Can you we all just agree there is simply no chance a premier free agent would come to Seattle with the current environment?