Nice to see Johnny Mac hit a slam; couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.

And WTF with the unbalanced schedule? Detroit and Chicago get to beat up on KC 19 times each, while we get to mix it up with Boston and NY 38 times? This makes the wild card fair exactly how?!

A-Ron

You trying to jinx the young man's throwing ability, sir?

And WTF with the unbalanced schedule? Detroit and Chicago get to beat up on KC 19 times each, while we get to mix it up with Boston and NY 38 times? This makes the wild card fair exactly how?!

  Heck, I wish the Jays never had to play the Central and West teams: They're 27-18 vs. the AL East, but 8-8 vs. the Central and 12-9 against the West.  Not to mention the very unpleasant 9-9 against the National League.

  It seems like they always rise, or sink, to the level of their opposition.

Has Suzuki really earned all the hype and adoration he gets? Maybe he did in Japan, but for my money he’s been an excellent Major Leaguer, not a once-in-a-lifetime star whose accomplishments demand that his first name be followed by an exclamation point rather than his surname.

I don't know how you could "earn" adoration other than by being adorable.   Which Ichiro is.  He's an electrically exciting player - I defy you to go to a Mariners game and not spend at least 15 minutes of it just watching Ichiro.  The guy is magnetic, and he plays the game differently from everyone else - his brand of headiness, spirit and athleticism is basically unique in the major leagues (Jose Reyes is probably the most similar player I can put my finger on at the moment, although Vlad Guerrero is a more exotic creature, like Ichiro is, but with different skills) and his unwillingness to compromise his style may make him slightly less valuable than he otherwise might be, but definitely no less watchable.

More to the point - I think he is indeed a "once in a lifetime star" as you put it.  The first significant Japanese position player to come to MLB.  A top-caliber defender with a terrific arm, a great baserunner, a small man who actually emphasizes his stature instead of trying to de-emphasize it.  Maybe not once in a lifetime - except for being unique as the first successful Japanese position player - but probably once in a generation.  Richie Ashburn was a pretty similar player but without Ichiro's extremes.

Yes, Ichiro doesn't necessarily do as much as some other players to help his team win.  But Ichiro isn't best experienced quantitatively, as facts and numbers on a page - he can only be experienced qualitatively, as a man doing extraordinary things on the diamond.  His very exoticism ensures that he's going to build a cult following, like a knuckleball pitcher does or like a two-way player would.  That's popularity, and it's not "earned" so much as granted.  We, the baseball-watching public - we know what we like, and we like Ichiro.

Didn't much like these two paragraph in this Globe article:

Arnsberg was also blunt with Chacin. "I talked to Gus and told him this is our last effort, and if this doesn't work, he knows the consequences," Arnsberg said. "It's going to be Tommy John surgery [tendon transplant surgery] or something like that."

"I mean, you don't want to scare the guy, but you can't always be peaches and cream, either. He needs to know the options if the rehab doesn't go well. I mean, really -- if it doesn't work, what are you going to do, wait 14 weeks the next time?"

TJ surgery for Chacin would not only deal a blow to the Jays' hopes this year, but it would cause major problems for 2007 too. With Chacin out, Lilly departed through free agency and Janssen struggling terribly with big-leaguers' adjustments to him, the Jays would have just two experienced starters, Halladay and Burnett, around which to build next year's rotation.

So, yeah, I'd say Julio Lugo isn't the team's top priority right now. Cross your fingers and hope Chacin's OK.

Well put, Craig. I knew when I wrote that that it would be you who would speak up. Maybe what's strange about it to me is that it's like a cult following, as you say, except that it's seemingly everybody who has joined the cult.

I confess; I've never seen Ichiro live. I'll have to be sure to catch the Mariners in Toronto next year.

except that it's seemingly everybody who has joined the cult

Not quite everyone.  I've spent years arguing with my co-workers that his real worth on the field is nowhere near public opinion of him.

I can only imagine that some of the popularity stems from the fact he is different.  There are plenty of players in history similar to Lance Berkman, while he's very good - he's not unique.

Maybe it makes sense, even though it's a stretch.  Bear with me here...

Safeco has very deep power alleys and fairly typical foul line dimensions.  As a result, the outfielders have to play quite a bit (maybe ten feet) deeper than normal, but no further apart.

Now because of the deep alleys, a normal hitter will see his doubles and triples in Safeco increase, because he'll hit more fly balls over the outfielders' heads.  But Ichiro doesn't hit a lot flyballs over the OFs heads... he hits doubles and triples by powering rocket grounders and liners in between the outfielders.  But because those OFs are playing further back, they are better able to keep those grounders and liners in front of them - meaning that Ichiro gets more singles but fewer doubles and triples.

It may also be that Safeco has longer grass than other parks, which would have the same effect, but I can't document that like I can the deep power alleys.

Also, Ichiro's power numbers may not be affected by Safeco because he gets most of his home runs on hard shots down near the foul lines, instead of high arcing moon shots to center or the alleys.  Remember the ball Cat pulled on Saturday in the seventh that almost put a danged hole in the RF fence, six inches from being a homer?  Two feet higher and you have a classic Suzuki homer.

Speaking of Hillenbrand and his attitude, there's another dubious character type player getting designated.

http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/news/article.jsp?ymd=20060726&content_id=1576384&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

I don't know if viewers of the Seattle series are able to pick up the sounds at Safeco.

Having been to Monday and Tuesday's games it should be noted that the BlueJays had very signifacant fan support. Loads of Canadians were crowding over the Jays dugouts to get close to their team and get some autographs. The Dude was the fan favorite on Tuesday night. The Jays were very accommodating, signing loads of autographs for the western fan Base.

Jamie Campbell hung around the dugout and bantered with the fans during BP. He was absolutely great. A flat out nice guy.  I hope he stays for a very long time.

Monday's attendance was approximately 38,000 and Tuesday saw ore than 31,000 pass through the turnstiles. During the singing of the anthems the Canadians easily rivaled the volume of the Americans. If i were to hazard a guess, I would have to say that the Bluejays fans were close to 40% of the crowd.  We lustily cheered the team on. Of course it was much easier on Tuesday than the previous evening.

I don't know what the Jays do at home, but throughtout the game the Jays stood at the top of the dugout. While the Seattle team were all sitting inside. I don't know if this was part of this new team atmosphere, but it was a nice sight.

Mariners fans and staff were absolutely fabulous.

There is so much to report on but not enough time. I think I'll head down I-5 again in September.  Going to be fun chat tonight.

During the singing of the anthems the Canadians easily rivaled the volume of the Americans

As an American I've always been interested in how many people sing the Canadian anthem at games.  You don't see that too much in the US, or at least that's my observation, so I can't say I'm surprised that Safeco would be that way.

Games against Boston and New York get noticeable singing, which probably has something to do with the increased number of Americans in the crowd. Otherwise, it's a slight mumble.Oddly enough, sometimes I get dirty looks for singing the anthems.

It's good to see the days of Jays fans storming the KingDome/Safeco again. From my own experiences, the Jays are sincerely delighted to see their fellow fans and familiar faces on the road and are much more approachable than at home.

Hopefully they can put on a show for them again tonight.