Story Published:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
Story Updated:
Apr 3, 2008 at 5:42 PM PST
Here is the Ichiro post I promised you. The question I get asked the most is will the Mariners be able to resign Ichiro. Believe me, if I knew, I would have what is probably the biggest sports scoop in Seattle this year. I believe that this will be one of the biggest sports stories in our town and I can assure you, if anyone knew what was going on, it would be written.
What I can tell you is that I spoke with Chuck Armstrong at a function for KOMO’s Mariners advertisers and he told me that he had many conversations with Ichiro’s agent Tony Attanasio this past week. The club’s official stance is that they would like to see Ichiro in Seattle for a long time and they hope to see him go into the Hall of Fame in a Mariners uniform. Beyond that, no one is talking. Not club officials or Ichiro’s agent.
What I can provide are observations and conversations that I have had with Ichiro and people around him. My feelings heading into the season were that something would get done during spring training. Ichiro likes to be comfortable, Seattle is a comfortable place for him to live and the Mariners organization has made it easy for Ichiro to be Ichiro. When Ichiro threw the curve ball that he was intrigued by free agency and he wanted to see how well the team did this year, all bets were off.
Ichiro has had his ups and downs with the Mariners and I think it is safe to say that he hasn’t been too happy the past couple of years mainly because the team has not been winning. The recent run of winning baseball has shown a different Ichiro. He seems to me (and this observation has been shared by others in the organization) to be more engaged and in turn more valuable to the team. There is no arguing his skill set, but how he has used it in the past at times has been cause for debate as to if what he did on the field was for the betterment of the team or for Ichiro the individual and his numbers.
There is a right way and a wrong way in baseball. The highest compliment a player can give another is “he plays the game the right way”. There have been times through the years when Ichiro has not dove for a ball, or Ichiro has not stolen more bases despite being blessed with more speed than anyone on the ball club, or he has chosen to lay down a bunt in critical situations when the team needs him to swing for a double, all things that have caused grumbling among his teammates. These are examples of not playing baseball the right way in the classic sense.
What must be remembered however, is that Ichiro is not the classic ballplayer. He is a Japanese ballplayer. He has an answer for everything he does. Thought goes into every move and every play. It may not be the way it is done over here, but it is consistent with the way he plays ball. I struggle with criticizing him for the above because the thing that I admire the most about him is that he has stayed true to himself. He came to the US, a Japanese player, to test himself against American baseball. He didn’t turn into an American baseball player. He is the same Ichiro he was when he came over in 2001. He has not adapted to the American game, rather he exists and thrives within it.
When the team has fallen out of contention in the past Ichiro has felt the obligation to turn up the entertainment factor for the fans. He knows a good amount of people come to see him and values uniqueness in different players telling me this spring that he feels that players at a higher caliber should find what it is that distinguishes them from others and cultivate that talent. I believe that he is sincere in wanting to put on a show for the fans and I think that most of the misunderstanding with his goals vs. team goals has come when he has gone for individual numbers after the team has fallen out of contention.
This is where I see the current difference. Ichiro has done the little things lately. He dropped a bunt to advance a runner in a close game in San Diego. If the team was out of contention and he was counting hits I don’t think there is any way he would have done that. With the team where they are now, he executed the play beautifully. While we still haven’t seen him dive for a ball (and we won’t) he has been extremely clutch at the plate. The grumblings that I have heard from past teammates I have not heard this year.
He is not particularly close with his teammates however, but I believe this is almost self dictated. When he played with Team Japan in the WBC he talked about how special it was for him to feel a part of the team and to have a leadership role within that team. This is so contrary to what he has shown here. I cannot believe that he wants to be treated like one of the “guys”. How he could he when he has his own personal translator, his own trainer, special privileges and unique access to the guy who writes the checks?
This is not to say that he is on an island in the clubhouse. There seems to be more interaction between him and his teammates. Want an odd sight? How about Ichiro and Jose Guillen having an intense (not angry) conversation for at least 30 minutes today at Ichiro’s locker. John MacLaren has continued his playful relationship with Ichiro now that he has returned.
Behind the scenes he has seemed lighter in mood, not as sarcastic in dealings with the media. After being rather aloof to the early success the Mariners displayed, he’s recently talked about “feeling it” for the first time in a long time, something special around the team that he cannot describe.
These are all small things in the grand picture of just what is Ichiro thinking regarding his future. The only thing I can say is that I like what I am seeing. In the simplest terms, he just seems more comfortable right now. I correspond with a reader in Japan. He gives me a gloomier outlook telling me that the consensus among the media there is that Ichiro will leave. The feeling is that Ichiro, like any superstar wants a championship. He has seen Iguchi win one, Matsui come close and Matsuzaka well on his way to one.
Despite his desires, tradition may play a role in keeping him in Seattle. His relationship with the Nintendo owner Mr. Yamauchi will make it extremely hard for him to move to a different team unless he is given permission, my reader points out. It is a very Japanese thing to feel obligation to an older person who has helped one's career.
There is one way to make this easier. Win ballgames. Ichiro seems to be a much better fit on a winning ball club. Let’s hope the Mariners are one.
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