Ichiro at the Key
JMB · November 28, 2004 at 11:28 pm · Filed Under Mariners
As noted here, Ichiro was indeed at the Sonics game tonight. He got a long standing ovation when first announced, though he had to be prodded into even standing up in the first place. Later in the game, Squatch convinced him to throw t-shirts into the crowd. Unlike when Bret Boone did the same thing a few years ago, Ichiro didn’t go all out and try to hit the upper bowl; he seemed content to lob them to the rich folk. He actually looked more comfortable than I thought he would, given how much we’ve heard about his desire for privacy, etc. As far as I could tell, Ichiro and his wife were seated between Mr. and Mrs. Howard Schultz. Perhaps there’s some sort of Ichiro-Starbucks marketing deal in the works.
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38 Responses to “Ichiro at the Key”
Ichiro also talks to Kyodo News about the pressure he felt as he approached Sisler’s hit record:
Hitting machine Ichiro only human in record chase
You’re correct – they announced him on TV as sitting next to Schultz.
Slightly off-topic:
Dan Devone from Q-13 Sports could be seen Friday night at Iron Composer at the Crocodile as one of the judges. He was kind of stiff, but a good time was had by all. A comment by DJ No-Name, another Judge, about scoring with Leslie Miller before she left the news team set the room on fire with laughter. A good time.
For any of you who haven’t been to an Iron Composer at the Crocodile cafe, it’s freakin’ fun, once a month, and cheaper than seeing Ichiro at a Sonic’s game.
I was at that game when Boone was throwing shirts into the crowd. It was classic Boone, hamming it up for the fans by throwing the shirt pellets as far as he could into the upper bowl. But it wasn’t funny when he grabbed his shoulder afterwards, esp. since he was a free agent at the time. I’m glad Ichiro didn’t feel the need to show off his arm last night.
Here are some photos:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/teams/sea/photos
Boy, sexist jokes and annoying radio personalities–I must go to these Crocodile cafe events.
In other news, Ichiro rocks; love the hip outfit
he’s been to a couple of games this season (benefit of living here in the winter, I guess) but I think it’s the first time they got him to stand up and get into it…
Ichiro wears glasses? He looks cool in them.
I’m sure he didn’t want to risk his arm having not warmed up for five hours yet.
I stumbled across Ichiro in Papyrus in Pacific Place on Saturday. He was just mingling and doing a little shopping with his wife and 2 body guards. I probably would have walked right on by without noticing if not for a pack of Japanese people smiling and pointing into the store. A rare site indeed.
Ichiro was wearing shades indoors. One has to be incredibly cool to pull that off. I mean, most rock stars can’t even do it! As for him not testing the arm, my seat and beers just shy of the nosebleeds set me back a tremendous amount of entertainment income, so it would seem that “rich folks” need to occupy just about any seat in the house. Also, The Wizard was dropping down to the side, throwing strikes with good movement. Is there anything he can’t do?!
I was at a Sonics/Pacers game two years ago and Ichiro was sitting with Schultz, as well (and two seats down from Steve Emtman). The next day one of the local columnists pointed out that Ichiro was working on a Starbucks deal with Schultz for the Japan market. I think he and Schultz have been business partners for a little while.
Interestingly, he also threw t-shirts into the crowd at the game two years ago – he even launched a few into the second deck.
Totally off-topic, but the Blue Jays just bought SkyDome for $21 million.
$21 million for a retractable roof stadium that cost $375 million to build in 1988. Now they’ll be extra good at hiding revenue from Bud’s revenue sharing police.
James,
He could be the go-to receiver for the Seahawks.
Jeremy, at this point, so could I.
Me too.
At least you wouldn’t drop every other pass Steve.
Shiggy and family were at the SA/Sonics game earlier this month – didn’t get announced as I recall. Jerry Rice and family were at the Jersey game Fri, and got moved from the seats Shiggy was in to some front-row courtsides. He and Warren Moon were prodded into tossing shirts and playing catch with Squatch (who is to mascots what Calabro is to announcers).
Back to baseball – the Sonics have for the past few years made a point of announcing visiting “diginitaries” – mostly M’s or Sonics from ’79 – but the M’s never have done that except for “honorary first pitch” appearances. With the apparent reversal of fortunes, will we see the M’s attempt to attract Sonics/Hawks/Storm to the front rows of the Safe?
One final thought – wouldn’t “Belt Brothers vs Mario Brothers” be an instant best-seller for Nintendo, and wouldn’t that endorsement money pad Bora$’s and the players pockets to make up for slightly smaller contracts from the Marintendos? Yup, that’s what the maneuvering of ownership and the “two more first-basemen” noise must be leading up to.
I NY Post reports that the Mets have offered Sexson 10 mil/yr for an undisclosed number of years. I am going to say this just once. Richie, please take the Mets money. We only need 1 free agent first baseman this year.
Is it not possible that he and Schultz are just friends? It could be… and, Schultz probably got the tickets for Ichiro.
Re: #17: Jim – I was at a game this summer when they announced that the band RUSH was there…but I agree that it would be interesting to see what celebrities frequent Safeco Field.
Celebs at Safeco … local anyway, the Storm threw out the 1st pitch at a game I attended last season.
Also, I’ve heard -rumors- that Adam Sandler appeared during one of the playoff games vs the Yankees.
Rush went to a Mariners’ game?
Don’t get wrong – I love Rush – but I don’t usually think of them as being that worthy of note. How many ordinary baseball fans would even recognise any of Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson or Neil Peart?
Hey, the M’s could be like the Dodgers and have TV shows that film stuff happening all the while saving a guy from a criminal charge (like what happened with a guy and Curb Your Enthusiasm (sp?).
I heard about that Dodgers story…guess someone actually benifitted from going to a Dodgers game 😉 Advanced appology on multiple levels to Dodger fans.
I think the Ichiro-Starbucks deal is this: The terms “grande” and “viente” will be replaced with their Japanese equivalents. “Tall” will be replaced with, “On average, probably not as tall.”
If I was Ichiro, I wouldn’t be at the Sonics game. I would be meeting with the Mariners to demand a trade to a team that has shot at winning in the next few years.
Phil,
I am glad that you are not Ichiro.
Does Ichiro stay in Seattle during the off season?
Off Topic here if Matsuzaka is so good why wouldn’t a team like the Yankees just overwhelm the Lions with cash? (I know the posting system opens it up to everybody but they could blow the competition away with the first volley)
The Yankees are rich, not stupid. They’ll make a strong, competitive bid, I’m sure (unless they’re now afriad of international pitchers), but bidding something they know no one else would match isn’t something we’ll see.
#28– yes. as do Boone, Piniero, Wilson, Moyer…
#29: Overpaying for the post fee is exactly what the Mariners did with Ichiro. I believe our offer in the posting process was a little over $13 million, which nearly doubled the second-highest offer. Might have been fiscally reckless, but I’d be happier if the Ms front office made more moves like the one to get Ichiro, even with the risk of getting burned, than I am with the current management team.
$13.125m. If anyone can provide a cite for second-place offers, I don’t think it doubled the second-place offer, but that’s not really the point.
Geez! Talk about a slow news week for baseball and the Mariners in general. It’s hard waiting for the Dec. 7th arbitration offer deadline. Right now I’d even be more entertained by reading more Ryan Howard proponents being beat up by the Jason, Derek, and David. Yawn!
#32– from the Los Angeles Times “The Dodgers bid a little more than $10 million–the rumor now being they finished second–to Seattle’s bid of $13 million.” and from Newsday, “The Mets reportedly bid around half the Mariners’ winning bid of $13.1 million.”
Talk about a slow news week for baseball and the Mariners in general.
You realize you’re just ASKING for the M’s to sign Sexson, Delgado and Mo Vaughn, right?
Also, you could read Jim Street’s latest, with this comedy gem:
Any word on what Willie Bloomquist will be doing in the 2005 season? — Nancy S.
He presumably will report to Spring Training in March and compete for a spot on the 25-man Opening Day roster. He plays so many positions well that he’s a valuable member of the team. But at 27 years of age, he’s entering the prime years of his career and would like to play regularly.
Must…not…spew…coke…all…over…monitor…
Or (regarding Jeremy Reed):
What he lacks in power, he makes up for in hitting like a veteran.
What does that mean? Good eye? Slow bat speed?
We should sign Youppi to replace Jim Street:
FAN: We should sign Rickey Henderson to encourage Ichiro to steal more.
YOUPPI: Flibble!
#28 Sorry I confused you. The point was – Nothing of importance is happening and nothing will (probably) until after Dec 7th. It’s just hard waiting around reading glib Ichiro sighting at the Key. A little boring – waiting. I’d be less than happy if the M’s went out a wasted a drafted pick by jumping the gun and signing someone now – let alone the ones you mentioned