Ichiro Catches Us Another Victory

May 29, 2001

"In the end, it was just another example of the Mariners doing what they have all season -- finding a way to win. Last night was a showcase for defense, a weapon Seattle has wielded with authority." -David Andriesen, sportswriter

So this game started off with Lieutenant Shane Osborn, the pilot who landed the plane that was forced down on April 1st on a Chinese island, throwing the first pitch and that got me kind of choked up and HOW BRAVE IS THAT GUY ANYWAY and so then Freddy Garcia doesn't start off too well as he walks Brady Anderson to lead things off but then he gets a double play and then he walks ANOTHER batter, but then he gets an out and so we move along to our half where Mark McLemore reaches on an infield single and stole second, but we weren't able to score him. I feel compelled to mention that not only is Mac getting it done at the plate, he's playing excellently in EVERY position Lou Piniella has put him in thus far this year which so far includes leftfield, third base, second base and shortstop. Wait, has he played second this year? I think so.

Anyway, moving along to the second, our old friend David Segui flies out and it pains me a little to see Segui in a different uniform still, not that I'd trade John Olerud for the world and Freddy gets the next two guys all 1-2-3 like and I'm immensely pleased with him although I get a little bit cranky thinking about how Segui was ROBBED off a Gold Glove when he played for Seattle, I mean that guy can straight up pick em. And speaking of being able to pick em, John Olerud very deservingly won a Gold Glove this year, like how much do I love John Olerud. Carlos Guillen walks in our half, but that's as exciting as it gets.

Brook Fordyce leads things off for Baltimore in the third and some guy is all hollering "Fordyce, you STINK!" at the top of his lungs and then he makes an out and then Jerry Hairston makes an out and then Brady Anderson just LAUNCHES the ball about 20 miles down the rightfield line and Ichiro makes a SPECTACULAR sliding catch and Dave Niehaus was all going nuts in true Niehaus fashion and Freddy waited outside the dugout and thanked Ichiro for making that catch which I thought was really cute of him and THEN Mark "I'm Goin Yard!" McLemore WENT YARD in our half to give us a 1-0 lead.

"He's unbelievable. The Wizard [Ichiro] can just play. When he's not doing it with his bat, which isn't very often, he's doing it with his glove. That's why we call him The Wizard.'' -Mark McLemore, who can pretty much say the same thing of himself, on Ichiro

Fourth inning and Mike Bordick flies out to right and Ichiro makes another great catch and then Freddy retires the rest of the side in order and then they show this Afflack or however you spell it commercial where the Afflack Duck is on a rollercoaster and it is SO FUNNY and the duck is all wobbly after he gets off the ride and I laughed SO HARD that I barely noticed that we didn't do anything during our half and all I can say is that I wish they'd show all Afflack commercials instead of that Britney Spears one.

Fifth inning and Freddy gives up a couple of singles with only one out and and then one scores on another out and Freddy is talking to himself and he doesn't look very happy and we head to the bottom half tied at 1, but Seattle didn't care too much for that as is their habit and came right back as Carlos singled to lead things off and Mike Bordick irritated me severely when he managed to catch a blooper hit by Tom Lampkin that I thought was going to drop in there and then David Bell singled an out later and then Ichiro singled to score Carlos and then Mac K'd but Edgar singled to score David and we leave the inning leading 3-1.

Sixth inning and Brady singled but Cammie very uncharacteristically bobbled the ball and he got to 2nd, and then he got to third after tagging up on a foul out, and then SCORED on a ground out, but that's all they get, and then Cameron singled during our half but we can't score him and we leave the inning leading 3-2 and I have to say that I really, REALLY hate 'The Last Word with Jim Rome' commercials. I can't believe anybody watches that show as tacky as their advertising is, I mean I know it's supposed to be funny but I just end up feeling sorry for the people in it and it fails miserably in it's quest to appear "cool" and "hip" as they just come accross as mean and really, really lame.

Seventh inning and Freddy retires the side in order and Ichiro gets a double but we fail to score him, so let us move along to the eighth where Artie Rhodes relieved Freddy and is throwing some MAJOR heat but Brady catches up with it and hits what I thought should've been ruled an infield hit but they charged Bell with an error and I am all WHATEVER but then Artie K'd Bordick but Brady got to second on a wild pitch but Artie gets the next guy and then Jeff Nelson relieved Artie and walks the first guy he faces and I am like "What's going on here?" because Artie doesn't throw wild pitches and Jeff doesn't walk people but it matters not because Jeff got Segui to ground out. So it's our turn and I have to say that Edgar's beard is really quite fetching and all we manage is a single by Bret Boone and the second baseman, Hairston made a diving grab for it and then said a VERY BAD WORD when he missed and all I can say is that he is lucky my nephew didn't hear it or my Permanently-On-Profanity-Patrol sister would've scolded him big time. We still lead 3-2.

So Kazuhiro Sasaki relieves Jeff for the ninth and gets an out right away and then walks Delino Deshields who much to everyone's amazement didn't even ATTEMPT a steal, like this guy is pretty speedy too, but whatever. Kaz strikes the next guy out and then Ichiro makes ANOTHER SPECTACULAR CATCH to end the ballgame, and we are now 38-12 on the season. HOORAY!

"He did a great job. He really did a great job.'' -Mike Hargrove, manager of the Baltimore Orioles, on Ichiro's fielding that evening

"Ichiro made two sprinting catches in the right-field corner at Safeco Field, then capped off his night with a full-speed, shoetop snare, robbing Jerry Hairston and ending the game as he left the crowd of 30,413 -- and those in both dugouts -- slack-jawed." -David Andriesen, sportswriter

"That type of defense certainly helps the pitchers out and helped us win tonight. It gives the pitchers the feeling of, let them put it in play and we'll get it taken care of." -Lou Piniella