Tuesday, May 11, 2010

East meets West

Has there been a more overlooked, underappreciated man in baseball in the past decade than Ichiro? Well, probably, but lets just assume its him for the moment. He's probably one of the happier victims of that East Coast Bias, neatly tucked away in his little northwest cubby of Safeco field with the fairly toothless Mariners. And you can't help but get the feeling that he likes it that way. But if you enjoy baseball, or any sport for that matter, you can't help but appreciate the man for all that he brings to the field. What I'm sure is more commonplace in Japan, Ichiro has countless nuances and a completely different personality than any other major American star I can recollect. More insights into this and others in this interview here.

I think because Ichiro was the first of his kind, we kind of assumed that all Japanese players would be like him. But there may not be a more truly unique player in the league. Let's savor him while he's still around.
And I'll never forget that Terrance Long throw. Back when the A's were at the height of their Moneyball run.

1 comment:

Will said...

i'll never forget him throwing out t-long in his first month in the bigs