
Ichiro meets Obama at the All-Star Game, July 14, 2009.
Guess which one doesn't have the weight of the free world on his shoulders?
Added 7/16 U.S.S. Mariner has the official, hi-res, solemn shot.

Mom: Is that Ichiro?A minute or two later:
Dad: No, it's Gutierrez.
[Gutierrez hits the ball down the third base line and bolts to first. San Fran's third baseman Uribe makes the play, but it's a foul ball. Gutierrez heads back to the plate.]
Mom: Is he out?
Me: No. It was a foul ball.
Mom: Then they should punish him.
Dad: Why would they punish him?
Mom: Because he did something he isn't supposed to do.
Dad, amused: Then they should punish Uribe for throwing it.
Mom: He shouldn't do things that are confusing.
Dad: It's not confusing. Everyone knows what's going on.
Mom: Baseball is ridiculous.
Dad, teasing: Here's ol' what's his name.When Dave Niehaus retires, I know who should replace him.
Mom: Who?
Dad: Ichiro.
Mom: I can't see his face. All I can see is the top of his head. It could be anybody.... He does a dance at the plate. Doesn't he? He does. He was shaking his hips and everything... [Ichiro singles.] Come on, Ichiro. You need to get home or you're no good.

Team president Chuck Armstrong berated members of the coaching staff Wednesday morning, hours before the imploding Mariners got swept out of a three-game series against the same Los Angeles Angels they expected to unseat for the AL West title.McClaren explodes publicly:
Later, Armstrong refused to comment on the outburst during a 5-4 loss that sent Seattle to a season-worst 18 games under .500....
"What's said between me and the coaches stays between me and the coaches," Armstrong said through a team spokesman.
"I'm tired of (expletive) losing! I'm tired of getting my ass beat, and so are those guys!" McLaren shouted, jabbing his finger toward the clubhouse at the beginning of an expletive-laced tirade that emphasized his team is trying hard but not performing as it should.Add to that McLaren's delusion that, in spring training, the staff had "five aces," and toss in a disillusioned Ichiro--"I don't think at this point it is even worth it to answer that question"--and you have the recipe for an all-out implosion.
"My knee is still my knee," he said. "My knee is not my butt."Pretty easy to figure out: your knee has no padding; your rump does. Smash into the wall while snagging a liner to deep center, and you'll appreciate that fact in a tangible and memorable way.
Hmmm. Interesting.
I'd ask for a translation, but we were already getting one from interpreter Ken Barron at that point. Barron took another run at the interpretation, asking Ichiro to clarify.
"I hit it against the wall, but it's not big like my butt," he said.
"I'd love to tell you that taking care of Jamie was a high priority," Bavasi said. "It wasn't. Our job is to take care of the Seattle Mariners, so the fact that he's getting to go to a club like Philadelphia, a couple of games back in the wild card, is great. We are really happy for him. But we always take care of ourselves."This is from the guy who wasted millions on Adrian Beltre and Richie Sexson, underperformers who sapped life from Seattle's once live-wire lineup.
Ichiro Suzuki lined a two-out, two-run homer to right field in the sixth inning, capping the Seattle Mariners rally from a five-run deficit for an 8-7 win over the Colorado Rockies on Saturday night.A month ago, last night's loss would have started a six-game skid. Something's different about these M's--and it smells good like garlic fries on a simmering summer night.
Facing reliever David Cortes, Suzuki worked the count full, then hit a fastball from the right-hander an estimated 372-feet into the frenzied crowd in right. It was Suzuki's fifth homer of the season and the first runs allowed by Cortes (3-1) in his last five appearances.
Robertson has made the predictions at least four times in the past two weeks on his news-and-talk television show "The 700 Club" on the Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded. Robertson said the revelations about this year's weather came to him during his annual personal prayer retreat in January.Notice the hedging that allows Robertson to weasel out of a potential false prophecy. "If I heard the Lord right." "There well may be." And the uncertainty of the outcome--not a tsunami, but something as bad as a tsunami. Let's not forget that predicting storms on the coasts of America is like predicting crowds at Ichiro Bobblehead Night.
"If I heard the Lord right about 2006, the coasts of America will be lashed by storms," Robertson said May 8. Wednesday, he added, "there well may be something as bad as a tsunami in the Pacific Northwest."