This will be a much shorter read today...I promise
Last night the Falls Church News Hounds two year reign as DC Wood AA Champions came to an end. We had played consistently inconsistent all season and couldn't overcome numerous mental and physical errors in the field and lack of clutch hitting at the plate. Losing makes you think back to the elation that winning brought on and that hunger inside of you returns with unabashed fervor. I don't know if I'll play next year, I'm currently leaning to no as my body just can't hold up anymore. I love the game, my mental aptitude is sharp, but physically it pains me too much to play. I relish the coaching title I've assumed and they guys even though they are my peers respond well to me and trust my decision making. I've made horrible decisions and a few savvy ones as well. We'll see how I feel next April, but last night might have been it and that is a tough one to think about.
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Yesterday I wrote about Kurt Suzuki possibly being traded from the Oakland Athletics, but I didn't really expect Ichiro Suzuki to get traded. Sure his numbers are way down and Seattle needs to turn the page and create a new identity. For them it makes sense. Ichiro gave Seattle over a decade of relevance after the departure of Ken Griffey Jr. in 1999. I don't see anyone on the current roster that will replace Ichiro. It could be a while until anybody outside of the Pacific Northwest discusses the Mariners. Felix Hernandez is their biggest name left and he plays once every five days. I also don't think he destined to spend the rest of his career toiling in futility so I assume he will find a bigger, more prominent market to play in soon.
As for the Ichiro's new home, New York, I don't see why they made this move. Basically this was Ichiro for Dwayne Wise and outside of the value of the name, the statistics tell me that this doesn't make sense. Ichiro just cannot hit the way he once did. After failing to hit .300 for the first time in his career last year at .272, he has fallen to .261 this season. The true Achilles heel for the Yankees has been hitting in the clutch as they are at a .235 clip with runners in scoring position. Ichiro won't help as he is currently hitting .175 with runners in scoring position (per Steve Berthiaume at ESPN who probably poached that stat from somebody else anyways). The Yankees can get people on base, they can hit home runs, but a nice little blooper with 2 on and 2 out that falls for a hit is what may be their ruin in October.
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