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I'm starting to figure out why the Mariners are the only AL team who have never been to the World Series. Anytime the M's get a good player, or a few good players, sooner or later the good players leave. Today, Ichiro left for the Yankees. Tino Martinez did this in 1996 and got a World Series ring with the Yankees. A-Rod(or Payrod) went to the Texas Rangers for 250 million and later the Yankees. No wonder Mariners fans threw monopoly money at him. Randy Johnson went to the Astros and later got a World Series ring in 2001 with the Dbacks. Ken Griffey Jr got traded to the Reds in 2000. He went because he wanted to be near his family. That I can understand, and I have alot of respect for Griffey as a player(even in his retired stage). Griffey even came back to the Mariners.
I got upset today because this move reminds me of previous moves. This Mariners fan is very disturbed by the move to New York because:
A) I identify with the Pacific Northwest(and Seattle in particular). I used to live there, and I remember seeing an M's game in the Kingdome(man I miss that stadium).
B) I've been waiting for the M's to go to the World Series for a long time, since the 1990s in fact.
C) I've been an M's fan for a long time, even when my classmates in the Atlanta area were laughing at me.
While Rodriguez and Johnson departed while they still had a great deal of career value remaining, with Junior the Mariners were actually fortunate in avoiding overpaying for what turned out to be the not so productive back end of his career.
They are also fortunate to be moving Ichiro! rather than having to deal with pressures to give him another contract, one for which they would be paying premium dollars for Ichiro's! diminishing performance.
It may conflict with sentimental outlook, but it is actually good for the team.
I understand about team loyalty and years of bad luck. While I am a Yankee fan, I am also an Islander fan so frequently our talent leaves because we don't or can't pay as well. Concerning Ichiro, you have an aging veteran(either 38 or 39) who had a little bit of value left and the M's were afraid of losing him for nothing. With the chance of a playoff berth slipping away they did what they thought was best for the future. I agree that it seems like the future never comes but sometimes it does take considerable time. The Islanders last won a championship almost 30 years ago and we can't compete financially with the Rangers or the Devils.
I'm starting to figure out why the Mariners are the only AL team who have never been to the World Series. Anytime the M's get a good player, or a few good players, sooner or later the good players leave. Today, Ichiro left for the Yankees. Tino Martinez did this in 1996 and got a World Series ring with the Yankees. A-Rod(or Payrod) went to the Texas Rangers for 250 million and later the Yankees. No wonder Mariners fans threw monopoly money at him. Randy Johnson went to the Astros and later got a World Series ring in 2001 with the Dbacks. Ken Griffey Jr got traded to the Reds in 2000. He went because he wanted to be near his family. That I can understand, and I have alot of respect for Griffey as a player(even in his retired stage). Griffey even came back to the Mariners.
I got upset today because this move reminds me of previous moves. This Mariners fan is very disturbed by the move to New York because:
A) I identify with the Pacific Northwest(and Seattle in particular). I used to live there, and I remember seeing an M's game in the Kingdome(man I miss that stadium).
B) I've been waiting for the M's to go to the World Series for a long time, since the 1990s in fact.
C) I've been an M's fan for a long time, even when my classmates in the Atlanta area were laughing at me.
It disturbs me because the M's are my team.
The Mariners also PAID the Yanks to take their only talented player...
The Yankees also got cash in the deal that sent 25-year-old righties D.J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar to the last-place Mariners. The trade was announced a few hours before the Yankees played at Seattle.
It's not like the Mariners didn't get their use out of Ichiro. He played for them for over 11 years!! They more than enough miles out of him. They're completely out of contention this season and were able to get SOMETHING for him, rather than letting him walk in the offseason. I think it's a good trade for all involved, and I hate the Yankees.
I'm just getting the general idea that part of the reason the M's have never even been to a World Series is because alot of good players leave. If we had the 1995 Mariners combined with the 2001 Mariners, I'm sure the M's would have had a World Series ring by now.
It's not exactly Ichiro leaving for the Yankees, he was traded. The papers say he had requested a trade a few weeks ago, but it's not clear yet that he wanted to go to the Yankees.
Really, what gets lost in the papers and blogs I've read about this is that a team like the Yankees would be so out of character for him. He's traditionally looked to play for weaker teams where he was the star. That was true in Japan, where he carried the Blue Wave, and that's been true in the Major Leagues. I'm sorry to see him go to New York, both because I hate New York sports teams but also because I don't want to see him become a no-name player on a team full of All-Stars and overpaid players. He's a more interesting player as a big fish in a small pond, or as he gets older a medium-sized fish in a small pond. Seattle fit his style in Japan, but with management choosing not to build a team around him it created a rift in the fanbase whereby the fans grew to resent him, and are ambivalent about him leaving.
I'd like to see him sign a contract next year with a team where he can be a regular player, and I've always hoped he'd sign with Pittsburgh (even though they probably can't afford him). He's joked in the past though that he'd finish as a pitcher.
I don't follow much of baseball but I couldn't miss all the news about the Ochiro trade. I was watching local news last night and Ochiro was speaking. It appeared that he had an interpreter. I've never moved to a foreign country and had to learn the language, so I have no experience with this, but I wonder why he needs an interpreter after ten years.
Thanks.
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