Congratulations, Ichiro

I don’t know if there’s much left to say about Ichiro that I haven’t said already. I mean, there are only so many variations of the word “awesome”. But that’s what Ichiro is – he’s awesome, he’s incredible, amazing, fantastic, whatever word you choose, it’s always right. It’s very obvious to me that there are a lot of Mariners fans out there who don’t fully appreciate Ichiro – even I’ve been guilty of it in the past, but I feel like we need to attempt to stop taking him for granted. He isn’t going to be here forever, and we need to realize that we’ve had the opportunity to watch him play, and cheer him on, for almost 10 years now. That’s a long time – 1,402 games to be exact, and that’s something to be very grateful for.

Some people still manage to find ways to criticize him – whether it’s because he doesn’t speak English to the media, doesn’t drive in runs, doesn’t hit for power, doesn’t dive enough, you name it. Mentioning any of the last three is absolutely ridiculous – he isn’t a perfect player, he’d be the first one to tell you that, but what he does do, day after day, is just as amazing. He’s a very special, unique player, and rather than insulting him for what he doesn’t do, we should praise him for all of the things that he does do. As for not speaking English to the media – I’ll admit, it sometimes bothers me, as I’d like to see him open up to the city that loves him so much a little bit more, but if I were speaking to the press, I would prefer to do in the language I’m most comfortable with aswell. I mean, I’m in my fourth year of high school Spanish, but if I were playing baseball in Mexico, I’d still prefer to use a translator. All of the things that he does or doesn’t do add to the greatness that is Ichiro.

Now, on to his accomplishment today. 2000 hits isn’t really a huge milestone by itself, but the fact that Ichiro managed to reach that goal in less than 9 seasons, is nothing short of amazing. So is the fact that even though he’s been booed in Oakland in the past for some reason, he received a warm ovation from the fans there today. Do I think he’ll get to 3000? Absolutely. I expect Ichiro to play well into his 40’s, and I don’t see his hits totals significantly falling off for at least a couple more years. In fact, I’d expect him to get 200+ hits for at least 2 or 3 more seasons.

There isn’t much else to say, just please, keep doing what you do Ichiro, and know that Seattle loves you.

You can follow me on Twitter here