When the Mariners wrap up their homestand Sunday, there's a feeling it'll be the last time we see Ichiro in a Mariners uniform. There are reports he wants to retire and this could be his last homestand.
Now I could wax on about Ichiro and everything he's meant to baseball, but you've probably heard it all.
What you haven't heard much of during his 18 years in the Majors is Ichiro speaking English, although there are countless shots of him talking to fellow players.
He has had some infamous quotes over the years, like this one about Cleveland. "If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying."
Apparently, profanity was something Ichiro mastered. Major League All Stars tell stories of Ichiro's profanity-laced, pre-game speeches before all 10 of his All Star games. According to eyewitness accounts, right before the team took the field, Ichiro ripped the National League in motivational speeches packed with F-Bombs. David Ortiz once said, "It's why we win."
And win they did. The American League was unbeaten for nine-straight years. Ichiro claimed he concentrated more on those speeches than he did on the game.
While Mariners fans got to see Ichiro's greatness on the field, by most accounts he was equally entertaining off it.
For us on the outside, we'll never know. He once told longtime Mariners beat writer John Hickey, "As professional baseball players, we are here to perform baseball, not to learn a language." He definitely had his priorities in line.
