Ichiro Suzuki

I'm not a big fan of a particular baseball team. Like most casual fans, i root for the local teams, which in my case are the Angels and the Dodgers, and on occasion i'm lucky enough to attend a game in person. I strongly believe watching a major league baseball game in a stadium is something everyone should do; maybe it's national pride, cultural awareness, or just the excitement of being in such a large crowd, but whatever the reasons, the experience of watching a game in person is much more enjoyable than watching a game on television, regardless of where you sit (although if you don't know the rules of the game, make sure you're with someone who does).

Having said all of this, i must admit i have a strong afinity towards one specific player---Ichiro Suzuki. If any of you ever have a chance to watch him play baseball, don't ever pass it up; he is amazing! I'm not going to go into all of his amazing records and statistics, but i believe for all of his accomplishments, he is the most underexposed player in professional baseball. Meredith (she loves Ichiro) and i went to watch the Mariners play the Angels just so we could see him in person. And we weren't the only Ichiro fans at the game---there were plenty of Japanese tourists sitting around us, as well as some Mariners fans, who joined us in our "I-CHI-RO" chanting after he hit a home run in the 8th inning.

Unfortunately he didn't get any other hits, going an uncharacteristic 1 for 5 despite his amazing speed, but he did make a beautiful sliding catch just in front of us.  I'm sorry i don't have a picture; i didn't want to miss the play by fumbling with my camera.  Meredith and i left very satisfied with enough Ichiro memories to hopefully last long enough until next year!