Congratulations to Ken Griffy, Jr. and Mike Piazza

Congratulations to them both: Griffy will wear a Mariners cap, Piazza will wear a Mets cap.

Rush Limbaugh wishes them both the best.
Wombat: Griffy and Piazza make it, Schilling gets closer

Frank Deford: Pete Rose Should Enter The Hall Of Fame With Ichiro Suzuki...

Frank Deford makes his case...

I am a very big Ichiro fan.  I am a very big Pete Rose fan too.

Ichiro is undoubtably entitled to the Hall of Fame, if only for breaking the MLB season hit record.  Ichiro is a class act.

The problem with Rose is whether or not he bet against his own team when he was managing.  He claims he only bet on his team.  Rose accepted a life time ban as part of his post investigation plea deal in 1989.  I do not see MLB backing down on the ban if there remains a strong suspicion he bet against his own team.  

Who knew the Mariners were really a Yankees farm club...

But not all former Mariners are the same...

I'm assuming, based on what the Yankees pay A-Rod, Raul Ibanez is a billionaire? #MLB
— Peyton's Head (@PeytonsHead) October 14, 2012

And this tweet is made of awesome:

The Yankees have stranded more men tonight than that Italian cruise ship.
— Peyton's Head (@PeytonsHead) October 14, 2012

#MLB I'm blaming that Derek Jeter injury on A-Rod.
— Peyton's Head (@PeytonsHead) October 14, 2012

Detroit New York Box Score   Update:  Tigers just scored two in the top of the 12th.  Yankees lose, Jeter injured.

Q: What do you call 40 millionaires around a TV watching the World Series? 
A: The Seattle Mariners.

 Q: How do you keep a Mariners fan from masterbating? 
A: You paint his dick New York blue and white and he won't beat it for 4 years! 

Q: What's the difference between a Safeco Field hotdog, and a Yankees Stadium hotdog? 
A: You can buy a Yankees Stadium hotdog in October!

There were two men, one was a Mariners fan and the other was a Yankees fan. These men were both madly in love with the same woman. So the woman challenged that whichever man does a better job at having sex with her would be her boyfriend. Both men accepted the challenge. That night, the woman had sex with the Mariners fan and then the other night had sex with the Yankees fan. The next day the woman chose the Yankees fan to be her boyfriend. Shocked and outraged, the Mariners fan asked why she didn't choose him. She replied by saying, "You, like your team not only come up short but always finish early!" 

A first grade teacher explains to her class that she is a Seattle Mariners fan. She asks her students to raise their hands if they were Mariners fans, too. Not really knowing what a Mariners fan was, but wanting to be like their teacher, hands explode into the air. There is, however, one exception. A girl named Mary has not gone along with the crowd. The teacher asks her why she has decided to be different. "Because I'm not a Mariners fan." "Then," asks the teacher, "what are you?" "Why I'm proud to be a New York Yankees fan.", boasts the little girl. The teacher is a little perturbed now, her face slightly red. She asks Mary why she is a Yankees fan. "Well, My Dad and Mom are Yankees fans, and I'm a Yankees fan, too!" The teacher is now angry. "That's no reason," she says loudly. "What if your mom was a moron, and your dad was a moron, What would you be then?" A pause, and a smile. "Then," says Mary, "I'd be a Mariners fan." 

Ichiro Suzuki to the Yankees? I did not see that coming!

Seattle getting two pitchers and paying the Yankees cash?  

Granted Ichiro's skills are declining and he must be sick of being on a loser team that has not been a contender for ten years. But I did not see this coming.  Ichiro is a big draw for Japanese fans (who travel to Seattle just to see him). Given Nintendo's ownership of the Mariners, such a move did not seem likely.

Of course, there is the wisdom of Ichiro:

"Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out." New York Times (August 22, 2009)

"I'm told I either look bigger than I do on television or that I look smaller than I look on television. No one seems to think I look the same size." Tacoma News Tribune (May 23, 2001)

“To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.” Stone, Larry. Mariners Notebook. Seattle Times (June 11, 2007)

Maybe the Yankees picked up Ichiro as a Japanese replacement for Yogi Berra.
Say what you will:  262 hits in 2004  Granted this is sort of like Willie Mays playing for the Mets.  But my guess is Ichiro will have a great rest of the year with the Yankees.

Update:

Ichiro says his first day with the Yankees was "a wonderful day to experience."  Which I assume means, "glad I am not with those losers!"

Update:  Such a deal!  For the Yankees.  For the Mariners, more of why they suck (hint:  poor management, just like the U.S. economy and lack luster recovery is due to poor management).