Smiles! Genuine smiles! And not even a glimmer of an indication that he and his teammates share a mutual contempt!
As best as I can tell, there are three ways in which one may attempt to relate Ichiro's success with Japan to his career as an M:
1. Ichiro develops a taste for winning and dreams of playing for a more successful organization
2. Ichiro develops a taste for winning and dreams of carrying the Mariners to the biggest stage
3. Ichiro's appetite for victory is satiated by the WBC and he's okay with playing for a mediocre Major League team
I don't know which is closest to the truth, but even if it's #1, the fact of the matter is that Ichiro's trapped here and he's never getting out, so my recommendation to you is to set aside any concerns you may have regarding Ichiro's feelings towards Seattle and celebrate his complete and utter awesomeness. Last night he delivered maybe the biggest hit of his career, and one of the most significant hits in the history of Japanese baseball. Ichiro drove his team to victory, and those smiles - he earned those smiles. Watching Ichiro humanize himself the way he did after the final out only makes me hope that much more that someday he's able to be that happy as a Mariner. More than anybody else, he deserves it.
Go Ichiro. You may not have had the best tournament as a whole, but your performance in the title game could not possibly have been more vintage you. Way to go, little dude.
My favorite picture of the bunch has to be this one:
The guy on the left gets an A for effort but an F for execution. And I like how the people in the back are just hanging out while Ichiro gets the champagning of a lifetime. Half the people in that clubhouse would probably get drunk just by wearing his t-shirt.
1 recs | 38 comments
Ichiro!
Man you get one chance to champagne him and only two people are doing it this is once in a lifetime opportunity unless Ichiro is selfish and has parties everyday at home where he has people pour champagne all over him…
Slurvey - March 24, 2009
I think he got plenty
Jeff Sullivan - March 24, 2009
God he's so awesomely selfish...
Slurvey - March 24, 2009
I think this has gone the way of grit.
Mariner John - March 24, 2009
What a distinctly Japanese picture.
joof - March 24, 2009
This is a genine joy.
It’s beautiful. He deserves it.
royalcurve - March 24, 2009
.
lemonverbena - March 25, 2009
Ichiro must be selfish because this happened about three years ago. But still, second in a lifetime opportunity ain't nothing to sniff at, either!
Wilder. - March 24, 2009
This pleases me like nothing else
This is as it should be. Ichiro deserves championships.
katal - March 24, 2009
My God
That was such a beautiful game last night. That was the kind of shit that would make sportswriters of yore wax poetic of glory of the game and make sweeping prose about baseball as allegory for life. That is, you know, if they weren’t so racist.
TheBishop - March 24, 2009
Yeah
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him quite that jumpy and happy before…
section331 - March 24, 2009
We did once.
Jeff Sullivan - March 24, 2009
Oh, yeah
How could I forget? dreamy sigh
section331 - March 24, 2009
Thanks for the photos link, Jeff. Awesome!!.
NeighborTom2 - March 24, 2009
I was almost in tears after the game, and it is because of Ichiro!'s PA.
It was a great game. The tention built until it was electric, even in my little apt.
I want that so much for the Mariners. I want them to make it to the World Series and have a moment like that. Seriously, I know how amazing that moment will be now. As a fan, I believe it will come someday. I hope it comes while Ichiro is part of the team.
mark sobba - March 24, 2009
What a beautiful mess
this is.
.Taylor - March 24, 2009
Ichiro was just hungry
And wanted to go home and get something to eat, so he got a hit and won the WBC.
meanwhile, Bud is happy to give an award to a major leaguer that isn’t using steroids
(p.s. ichiro is the mf-ing MAN)
CalNoah - March 24, 2009
I'm not so sure about this:
It’s subtle, but where the hell is Johjima? Not one picture of them together. I went through Johjima’s photo gallery (all of 16 pictures) and this is the only one I found with them kind of together:
I mean, look at Ichiro. He’s got this annoyed expression and he must be thinking, as Johjima’s eyes light up grabbing the trophy, “Let go of my fucking trophy you piece of shit; always crashing my party.”
I know what it is. Johjima must be the cancer in the clubhouse! Pitchers don’t want to work with him. Silva confuses Johjima with Ichiro; because, you know, all Asians look the same(!). In fact, everyone confuses Johjima with Ichiro. And the clubhouse builds up this disdain toward Ichiro because of Johjima. The clubhouse cancer has to be Johjima! I can’t believe we didn’t connect the dots before!
In all seriousness, I would love someday to see Ichiro do this with the Mariners after winning the World Series. Ichiro is a rock star in Japan and you know he hooked up with like 10 women that night that he handpicked out of the crowd. We need to build up his taste for American women, specifically in the Seattle area. If we can do this, I am sure Ichiro will develop that taste for winning and carry the Mariners to the biggest stage.
And it might not hurt to “take care” of Johjima while we are at it.
Wilder. - March 24, 2009
American women in the Seattle area are Japanese women
Jeff Sullivan - March 24, 2009
Not if they're citizens.
JI - March 24, 2009
Maybe we need to replace the WaMu sign behind Ichiro with a beer ad?
Might be a good reminder he has this to look forward to:
Wilder. - March 24, 2009
Huh....
I don’t feel Japanese….
section331 - March 25, 2009
Only some.
There are Korean, Vietnamese, and Chinese as well.
Fin - March 25, 2009
Actually,
I feel way more Himalayan, than anything…
section331 - March 25, 2009
You would have had to take a picture of the tv screen
But at the end of the game, Joh and Ichiro were among the first to hug each other on the field, and then they both turned toward the camera with their arms on each other’s shoulders. I wish I had saved it on my DVR
tootthekazoo - March 25, 2009
Yep. And if I heard correctly, they practically squealed at each other like little girls.
royalcurve - March 25, 2009
If only there was more Bud Selig in that photo gallery
lemonverbena - March 24, 2009
He's not smiling in this one:
ralphie81 - March 25, 2009
Ichiro
in quotes
Apparently he also said something about almost having an orgasm, but it was edited out of the write-ups afterward.
Matthew - March 25, 2009
I think it is time there is a dedicated sidebar area for Ichiro quotes and gifs.
Raul has been enshrined and his defensive blunders are not 1/10th as awesome as Ichiro.
Wilder. - March 25, 2009
Ichiro
on playing in the next WBC, in 2013: “That’s four years from now. I don’t even know if I’m going to be alive four years from now.”
lemonverbena - March 25, 2009
Awesome.
Fin - March 25, 2009
I love Ichiro.
Double06 - March 25, 2009
Radical
royalcurve - March 25, 2009
He'd better. He's signed for four more years
Decatur - March 26, 2009
TMI
Robert - March 25, 2009
"I’ve got it, you know. God descended on me,"
Headline:Ichiro steals God’s mojo, reveals secret of awesomness.
Goose - March 25, 2009
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