dr4b: (mariners)
Deanna ([personal profile] dr4b) wrote2004-10-02 01:21 am

Ichiro 259

Actually, I'll just repost what I posted in a jiffy on USS Mariner:

Amazing game. Left work in Kirkland at 5:30pm. Was 2 miles from the stadium on I-90 at 6:20pm and got stuck in totally stopped traffic. I said to my friend, “If we don’t make it to the stadium in time for Ichiro’s first at bat, I will kill something.” I’m not sure, but somehow I knew it was going to be big. Got to the Seahawks parking lot at 7pm.

Walked by seeing Blalock strike out; heard Teixiera get a home run while I was at Ivar’s. Got to my seat while everyone was standing up waiting for Ichiro’s first at-bat. Convenient – I didn’t have to ask them to stand up to let me by.

And from then on it it was easily the best game I’ve gone to this year. I mean, holy crap, 257. And 258. And 259. The cameras flashing like a flock of fireflies on every pitch. Fireworks, cheering, packed stadium. Man, I miss that. You’d almost think we’d shoved Safeco into a time machine.

Villone got 5 strikeouts in 5 innings. Whoa! Drese will go down in the history books for giving up Ichiro’s 258th. Whee.

I felt kinda bad for Randy Winn – I mean, he’s had to bat behind Ichiro all year, but heh, each time, the entire stadium stood up for Ichiro, sat down for Winn, and he went 3-for-4 too, y’know. Then they’d all stand up for Edgar again. Oh yeah, Ibanez and Boone also got 3 hits each.

But yeah. Ichiro. Amazing. Game, amazing. Traffic, annoying. And much, much, more…

----

On another note, if you like USS Mariner like I like USS Mariner you should check out the team meeting thingy he forwarded from Jeff Sullivan's Mariner page.

[identity profile] the2belo.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 04:53 am (UTC)(link)
Unbelievably awesome.

As you can imagine, every channel on TV over here right now is going absolutely apeshit bonkers.

[identity profile] damienroc.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 08:03 am (UTC)(link)
116, and... 26x, I suppose. The M's have a thing for record numbers, ne?

[identity profile] oren.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 08:24 am (UTC)(link)
And the Angels are now in a position to go to the playoffs. LA vs Anaheim in the World Series. :)

[identity profile] crackoon.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 08:44 am (UTC)(link)
Man, I wish I could have watched that game. Japanese television is well uh, crazy over this shit. I even have a copy of the Yomiuri newspaper 号外 which I can't for the love of it think of the english translation atm.

[identity profile] the2belo.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 09:17 am (UTC)(link)
"oh pooh, Ichiro had 162 games to do it in, and he's such a SINGLES hitter, he's SO overrated, who cares"

If Ichiro had 162 games to do it in, then so has everyone else, for decades. The record's stood for eighty-four years. Pete Rose couldn't even do it, and he has more hits than anyone else ever. It's an amazing thing to witness.

And yeah, it's a neat thing, a legendary player on an otherwise bad team. Ripken broke Gehrig's record on an Orioles team that was out of contention, and those two nights were incredible. Pity I wasn't in the correct country to witness it.

[identity profile] the2belo.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 09:19 am (UTC)(link)
If it's anything like the Chunichi Shinbun (Nagoya, Ichiro's hometown) it'll be something like, "イチロー、伝説へ".


[identity profile] oren.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
Completely off topic but the mention of Nagoya reminded me. Have you ever been to Suzuka Circuit?

http://www.suzukacircuit.co.jp/

I'm thinking of going next year.

[identity profile] the2belo.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 11:16 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, I have. It was a nice enough place to visit, but the amusement park adjacent to it SUCKED.

[identity profile] oren.livejournal.com 2004-10-02 01:27 pm (UTC)(link)
Good story. I'm thinking of going next year for the Suzuka 8 hour Motorcycle Endurance race. The MotoGP is now only at Motegi and I'm not as interested to go there. MotoGP no longer goes to Suzuka since Daijiro Kato died last year.

F1 is next week at Suzuka.

[identity profile] mh75.livejournal.com 2004-10-04 10:18 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, that was an amazing evening. It was fun and exciting and hopeful. If it makes you feel better, i've been rooting for Randy Winn. He's not exactly a superstar, but i just love having someone who comes out and does his job relatively consistently.