Ichiro sets hits record

Who's better, Pete Rose or Ichiro?

The Seattle Mariner just set a record for most consecutive 200-hit seasons and is now tied with Pete Rose for most 200-hit seasons.

In other words, barring a gambling scandal, I think it's safe to say Ichiro will have an entire wing dedicated to him at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

TORONTO -- Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki became the first player with 10 straight 200-hit seasons Thursday, breaking his record with a single to center in the fifth inning of the Mariners' game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ichiro Suzuki now has 200-plus hits in all 10 of his MLB seasons. He's tied with Pete Rose for the most 200-hits seasons in MLB history.

Suzuki, whose 200 hits are the most in the majors, closed in on the mark with a two-out double to left off Blue Jays right-hander Shawn Hill in the third.

He wasted no time in setting the record, lining a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw from Hill in the fifth.

His teammates came to the top step of the dugout to applaud and Suzuki tipped his cap as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Suzuki surpassed Willie Keeler with his ninth consecutive 200-hit season last year. Keeler's streak ran from 1894 to 1901.

Check out this graphic by ESPN about the most 200-hit seasons...

Most 200-Hit Seasons, MLB History
Ichiro Suzuki 10*
Pete Rose 10
Ty Cobb 9
Lou Gehrig 8
Willie Keeler 8
Paul Waner 8

Ty Cobb? Lou Gehrig? Serious? That's the kind of company Ichiro is in right now. Wait, no, that's the company that Ichiro has beaten now. Wow.

Apparently Ichiro is going to mess with Jason Bay's house

This was taken from Red Sox star Jason Bay's blog about his experience at the 2009 All-Star game on WEEI:

I run back in from the field to get sunglasses. Locker room completely empty except Ichiro stretching on the floor and his translator sitting on the chair beside him. Sow we make small talk, and I ask him where he lives in Seattle because I lived in the suburbs.

Well, I had barely got the last word out when Ichiro says something in Japanse. Then his translator turns to me, deadpanned and straight-faced and says, “I’m going to mess with your house.” The way he said it was malicious, and Ichiro is on the floor dying laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. I was just like, “OK, I’ll see you guys out there.” I didn’t know what to say. It was weird.

I'm sure something was lost in the translation, but that combined with the footage of Ichiro beaming like a school girl when Barack Obama was signing a baseball for him - makes me think he's a bit of a strange dude. I'm not faulting him for it though. In fact, now I'm fascinated by it.

What would it be like hanging out with Ichiro in the clubhouse?

Man Card Rules: Talking sports out your butt

I don't expect everyone to know the game of baseball, heck, I'm pretty dumb when it comes to the nuances and specific details of the game (Luckily I have the human encyclopedia of baseball in Dylan Kitzan to reference). Unless you've played the game at a high level, there are things that you simply won't know about the game.

However, don't try to talk baseball out your butt with a "I know what the hell I'm talking about" voice and say this:

"You know, why the heck do they have Ichiro as the leadoff batter? That just doesn't make sense"

Hmmm, apparently Mr. Genius Manager-in-Training would like one of the best leadoff hitters of our generation to bat ninth?

If you don't know the game, don't make dumb statements that not only reveal that you have no idea how the game is played but you're such a blow hard that you have to try and make people think you're smart.

Which you're not. Please, hand over the Man Card.

JustSON the Numbers: Seattle Mariners Offensive Inefficiency

Here we are nearing the end of May and the Seattle Mariners are beginning to resemble the team from last year. After an amazing start (for them) the Mariners have cooled off considerably, mostly because of their anemic offense. After beating the Oakland Athletics on May 3rd, Seattle was sitting atop the American League West at 15-10. Since then they are 4-12 and in 3rd place of the American League West.

At the base of this team slump you will find some very silent bats. During the teams 15-10 opening to the season they were averaging about 4.5 runs scored a game. During this 4-12 slump they are down to averaging about 3.2 runs a game. During this stretch the Mariners have been held to 2 runs or fewer in a game 7 times (in 16 games, how can you win?). The team has been giving up about 5.7 runs a game in this same stretch, but don't blame it all on the pitchers, the guys in the field have committed 16 errors in the last 16 games. They are currently 28th out of 30 teams in fielding percentage while the pitchers are 12th out of 30 in team ERA.

Seattle is currently holding up a .253 team batting average which is good for 21st in the majors, oh and that on base percentage, .306, dead last. Even though Ken Griffey Jr. is batting only .238 he at least gets on base (.369 on base average) for the guys behind him not to drive in. The only guys who are really doing anything for them is Ichiro Suzuki of course (.317 average) and Russell Branyan (.305 average, 10 home runs and 20 RBI).

So in conclusion after hours of research the Mariners lineup is not good. Building for the future is what they are doing and I hope they continue.

If anyone has any requests for this column let us know. I don't discriminate, no matter the sport or the stat.

Stat Tracker: Boston Red Sox vs. Seattle Mariners

After spending the day roasting in the sun while photographing a marathon in Spokane, and a heated game of Laser Tag, I spent the later part of the day following the second game of the Boston Red Sox-Seattle Mariners series.

Here's the stat tracker for the game.

2 - Questionable sponsors for the Seattle Mariners broadcasts. First, a Waste Management commercial since apparently garbage men need to advertise these days. That's followed up by a "Tuff Shed" commercial. Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2009 Recession!

1 - pitch that Jason Bay saw before he sent the ball hurtling towards the left field bleachers. Mannywood? No, Baywatch is in season.

42,000 - number of fans attending the game, which is far above their usual "hey! anyone can come in from the streets to make this crowd look bigger" figures. Obviously Red Sox Nation is in full bloom at Safeco Field.

In the hundreds - the decibel level of the voice of Dave Niehaus when Bettencourt hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second. Although, I didn't hear the obligatory "and it's a four to TWO ballgame."

1 - thing Ken Griffey Jr. and I have in common... neck fat.

1 - more Washington Lottery commercial from and I'll go ape-crazy. Seriously.

5 inches - the width of Red Sox manager Terry Francona's wad of gun in his left cheek. And I know it's gum because he takes the thing out, plays with it and then adds to it.

8 hard hit balls - that the 3rd base side ball girl handled wonderfully. She's a pro. Spokane Indians might want to take a look at her.

20,000 people - crammed into the beer garden of Safeco Field.

2 guys - in that beer garden that have Baltimore Orioles jerseys on. Apparently they're starting on Sunday and Monday for the O's.

Too many times - FSN announcers use the term "tough customer" when talking about batters for Boston. Oh and they mentioned Dustin Pedrioa was the defending 2008 AL MVP only slightly more often than the Spokane Chiefs announced they were the 2008 Memorial Cup Champions. Like we forgot or something.

2 GOOD GOD MOMENTS - I saw a woman in a Yankees' hat taking a photo of Griffey. Apparently she wanted to see somebody in the lineup that was struggling other than Mark Teixeira.

FSN also showed a group of Red Sox fans chanting "ICH - EE -ROW!" along with the rest of the crowd in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs. Nope. No Bandwagon to see here folks. Move along. Move along.

.207 - Batting average of Ken Griffey Jr. In case you were keeping track at home.

3, 698 - times I've seen Adrain Beltre foul off a pitch into his shin. This does not count towards his slugging percentage.

JustSON the Numbers: Felix Hernandez

Living in the Seattle area and being a sports fan over the past few years has been pretty rough. With the exception of the Seahawks making it to Super Bowl 40, the local sports faithful hasn't had much to cheer about lately. That rings especially true with the Seattle Mariners, where you pretty much only have had Ichiro Suzuki and Felix Hernandez to root for.

Well I have some bad news for Felix Hernandez fans because King Felix has now entered.....the twilight zone. For some reason Hernandez has traditionally struggled during the month of May. In one start this month his ERA (earned run average) has already risen one full run this year to 3.38 after he gave up 6 earned runs in 6 innings to the Texas Rangers on Monday, saddling him with his first loss of the season.

In comparison the combined months of March & April (sometimes MLB will squeeze in one or two games in March) have produced a career 9-5 record and 2.80 ERA for Felix. The month of May however has been far less forgiving yielding a 5-10 record with a whopping 6.55 ERA. The rest of the year Felix is very good with a career 29-22 record and a 3.62 ERA.

I can't figure out why May is such a bad month for Hernandez. My only guesses are that he either hates flowers or he killed May's twin brother Yam and May uses the month to exact some sort of revenge?

All I can say is if you have Hernandez on your fantasy baseball team you may want to keep him on the bench....at least until June.

Moves that the Mariners should make...

Alright so now that the Mariners have brought back a certain aging outfielder to the team, they're gonna be good right? If you think 70 wins is good, which would mean that you're probably a Pittsburgh Pirates fan.

The Seattle Mariners are going to have to do a few more things to get my vote and ticket-buying money.

1. Trade Ichiro Suzuki
He's in his prime, he doesn't add any power to the lineup and he plays an unimportant defensive position. I heard this from Colin Cowherd on ESPN this morning and I was like "WHAAAT?!" but after further thought, while he gets on base a lot, he really can't do anything else. He gets singles, and singles don't win ballgames. You could easily trade him for an exceptional player in a more important spot on the field and feel an immediate impact.

The Mariners also made him their highest paid player. WHY? He's not scoring any runs in no one else can hit the ball.

2. Don't let the Mariner Moose decide who's going to pitch
Okay the Mariners have Felix, who is solid. Brandon Morrow, who is promising and then we have a rotation that would make the 1962 Mets giggle. Wonderful.

(And if anyone says Rowland-Smith, you're a dumb, dumb person)

3. Have a Kingdome remembrance night
Put a large plastic lid on top of Safeco Field and slant all the seats so they are pointed away from home plate. Pump in a bunch of air conditioning, and turn down the lights. Mariner fans will love the nostalgia of watching Griffey in a enclose, dark, cold and uncomfortable building.

4. Stop paying overweight players to play baseball
Apparently the Mariners don't have to worry about steriods, just about all the missing bacon from the pregame spread.

A look at the Golden Glove winners in the AL

Major League Baseball has announced its golden glove winners for the 2008 season and one of the most "shocking" developments is that there are two Seattle Mariners on the roster.

Adrian Beltre - 3B - I'm a hundred percent behind this one, Beltran made some pretty impressive grabs over the season. Another thing that he did was (like it or not) was eat the ball if there wasn't going to be a play at first. You didn't see too many errant throws from Beltre but there were a couple of times I though he should have at least tried to make the play.

Ichiro Suzuki - OF - Well you cant beat his arm and his speed, and he got plenty of fielding chances with the fantastic Mariners' pitching staff.

With them getting named to the AL team it also shows you don't need defense to win games. In the Phillies case, you need a couple of guys that can hit the crap out of the ball, some pitchers who get hot at the right time and Tampa Bay to make the world Series.