Is it over?

This has been another down year for the Mariners. It has also been a down year for their right fielder. He has not made the plays in the field that he would normally make. He is not as consistent at the plate like he normally would be. This year he is at his lowest average since coming to the states hitting .275 this year. I still wonder if he is injured and not saying anything.

I also wonder with only 28 games remaining in the Mariners schedule, and I'm assuming young players to be called up, can he do it? For his first ten consecutive seasons Ichiro has been able to amass more than 200 hits for all 10 years. Right now he only has 154 hits this season. His strikeout totals are up, and he can't beat out the infield hit like he used to. What do you think:
Is it possible to get 46 hits in the next 28 games to reach 200 for the season??

Something old, something new

During the Easter holiday, Matthew over at Number 5 Type Collection held a little contest. All you had to do was pick a number. I picked #105 and what was closest to my number was 110. the #110 netted me this card in the contest:

A 1971 of Hall of Famer Bill Mazeroski. While Maz is most well known for this in 1960:

Bill was also a third base coach in Seattle. Maz was brought into the Mariners family in 1979 by manager Darrell Johnson.

When Johnson was fired in 1980, Maury Wills took over and kept Bill on his staff. After the 1980 season Bill left the Mariners.

Also, Matthew sent an extra card of a future HOF'er, I'm sure you've heard of him. Here's a beauty from his second year of cards:

That's right folks, #'d 16/100. I'm not big on #'d cards and all the limited stuff. I'm more of a regular old base card kind of guy. It is a nice card to have though, and I have some thoughts of what I might do with it.

Thanks again to Matt for the great contest.

Also, thanks to the Mariners for the exciting walk-off win, and to White Sox Cards for his season long homemade cards and this beauty from last night's game:

I love the old trident M in the star. I wish they would go back to those uniforms full time.

Top of the list

Let's just end the season right now, I'm happy. The Mariners are 2-0. Let's finish now and we are in first place. I know. All kidding aside though, this team is showing me a lot more heart than last year. Two nights in a row they have been down, but have fought their way back to victory. Also, a big congratulations go out to the Japanese hit machine-Ichiro. Last night in the 9th inning he would go to the top of the Mariners record book for hits.

Ichiro surpassed the great Edgar Martinez with his 2,248th hit as a Mariner. Combine that with his 1,278 hits in Japan and the guy already has 3,526 hits. When he gets another 731 hits combined he will break Pete Rose's record. Then only another 21 hits after that to make 3,000 here in the US. If he can continue at or near the pace he has in the first 10 years, he will get Rose, and 3,000 some time in 2014.

Also, as Felix did his commercial this year as Larry Bernandez, Ichiro did his yearly commercial to show that he can hit anything. Check it out. GO MARINERS!

Am I making assumptions too soon??

I'm curious to know if Ichiro is a lock for the Hall of Fame? Matt over at Heartbreaking Cards of Staggering Genius is keeping a daily update of the pursuit of 200 hits. We won't talk about the second part of the quest for 100 losses. It got me to thinking after a four hit night that now leaves him within 3 hits to reach 200. After this season, Ichiro will have the required 10 years of MLB service to be eligible for the Hall. With his 1434 hits in Japan and 2200+ hits in the Majors, is he a lock for the Hall is he doesn't for some reason make the 3000 hit plateau? I would assume the numbers would make him a first ballot lock to make it, but I would like to know what the rest of the world thinks. I want to extend an early congratulations to Ichiro for soon having 10 consecutive years of 200+ hits. He has been one of the few bright spots in the Northwest this year.