Ichiro!

The first two balls Ichiro Suzuki hit fair Friday night moved him to the top of the all-time single-season hit list.

The Mariners right fielder replaced Hall of Fame first baseman George Sisler in the record book with a single to center field in the third inning on a full-count pitch from Texas Rangers right-hander Ryan Drese.

It was the 258th hit of the season for Ichiro, one more than Sisler had in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns. […]

Ichiro tied Sisler's record in the first inning when he bounced a single over third baseman Hank Blalock's outstretched glove. That hit was Ichiro's 919th in his four seasons with Seattle, the most during a four-year period by any player in Major League history.

Last night Jeff Percifield devoted one of his trademark link-rich bios to the Seattle fielder. If you are even a casual baseball fan, do take a look.

Just guessing, but Jeff should be mighty pleased by the way the Mariners have boosted this season's pennant prospects for his A's.

UPDATE 100304. The M's efforts on the A's behalf weren't quite enough. Condolences, Jeff.

I love the way Ichiro holds the bat out in front at eye level before he goes into his stance. It always reminds me of a samurai with a sword. It must really unnerve the pitcher. What a great game, and how privileged we are to see a player like Ichiro who brings so much to it.

The A's played like GIRLS the last 2 weeks. Oh well. Hope you're not subbing in HS. It's my observation that the most vicious killers on the planet are TEENAGE GIRLS (cf. Carrie, Heathers, Mean Grrrlz)

As I discovered today, while subbing for a class that was about 60% freshmen girls.

Trauma, I tell you. Had to come home and take a nap...