Seattle1
07-16-2008, 07:06 PM
This is hillarious! :rofl:
Ichiro will try to rally AL teammates to another win (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2008051746_ichiro15.html)
NEW YORK — It was at Yankee Stadium in 1928 that Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, at halftime of the Army game, famously exhorted his team to "win one for the Gipper."
Shortly before the first pitch of tonight's All-Star Game at the same hallowed venue — which will be abandoned by the Yankees after this season for a sparkling new baseball palace already rising next door — Ichiro will be called upon to rally his American League teammates.
Yeah, Ichiro. The quiet guy who has been criticized by some for shunning a leadership role in the Mariners' clubhouse.
Ichiro's pregame "address" has apparently become an American League tradition during his uninterrupted string of All-Star appearances, dating to 2001.
The AL happens to have won all of those games. Coincidence?
"I'd say it's over 90 percent [of the reason]," Ichiro said with a laugh.
Boston's David Ortiz is the instigator, Ichiro said — and the content of his words are not for a family audience. Just call it his "Win one for the bleeper" moment.
Listen to Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau, who was a firsthand witness to Ichiro's clubhouse oration last year in San Francisco.
"He was sitting in the locker back there, and David Ortiz said, 'Ichi's got something to say.' And then he pops out and everybody started dying. I had no idea it was coming. It was hilarious.
"It's hard to explain the effect that is it has. You know, it's such a tense environment. Everyone's kind of a little nervous for the game. He doesn't say a lot the whole time he's in there, and all of a sudden the manager gets done with the speech and he pops out. It's pretty funny."
Did Ichiro — who backed his words last year by winning the Most Valuable Player award with three hits, including the first inside-the-park homer in All-Star history — say anything printable?
"No," Morneau replied. "That's what gets you, too, is hearing him say what he says. I've talked to him a little bit when he gets to first, but I didn't know he knew those words."
Ichiro said he takes his inspirational duty seriously. "I'm concentrating more at that moment than I am in the game," he said, speaking through interpreter Ken Barron.
Ichiro said he can't remember exactly when or how the tradition started. He believes it dates to his initial All-Star Game at Safeco Field in his rookie season of 2001.
What he does know is that Ortiz, Boston's perennial All-Star, is the one who keeps it alive. Ortiz, voted by fans as the starting designated hitter, won't play because of an injury, but he will be in uniform for the game.
"If I don't do it this year, I want to see if we win," Ichiro said. "But Ortiz will make sure it happens."
:laugh
Ichiro will try to rally AL teammates to another win (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/mariners/2008051746_ichiro15.html)
NEW YORK — It was at Yankee Stadium in 1928 that Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne, at halftime of the Army game, famously exhorted his team to "win one for the Gipper."
Shortly before the first pitch of tonight's All-Star Game at the same hallowed venue — which will be abandoned by the Yankees after this season for a sparkling new baseball palace already rising next door — Ichiro will be called upon to rally his American League teammates.
Yeah, Ichiro. The quiet guy who has been criticized by some for shunning a leadership role in the Mariners' clubhouse.
Ichiro's pregame "address" has apparently become an American League tradition during his uninterrupted string of All-Star appearances, dating to 2001.
The AL happens to have won all of those games. Coincidence?
"I'd say it's over 90 percent [of the reason]," Ichiro said with a laugh.
Boston's David Ortiz is the instigator, Ichiro said — and the content of his words are not for a family audience. Just call it his "Win one for the bleeper" moment.
Listen to Minnesota first baseman Justin Morneau, who was a firsthand witness to Ichiro's clubhouse oration last year in San Francisco.
"He was sitting in the locker back there, and David Ortiz said, 'Ichi's got something to say.' And then he pops out and everybody started dying. I had no idea it was coming. It was hilarious.
"It's hard to explain the effect that is it has. You know, it's such a tense environment. Everyone's kind of a little nervous for the game. He doesn't say a lot the whole time he's in there, and all of a sudden the manager gets done with the speech and he pops out. It's pretty funny."
Did Ichiro — who backed his words last year by winning the Most Valuable Player award with three hits, including the first inside-the-park homer in All-Star history — say anything printable?
"No," Morneau replied. "That's what gets you, too, is hearing him say what he says. I've talked to him a little bit when he gets to first, but I didn't know he knew those words."
Ichiro said he takes his inspirational duty seriously. "I'm concentrating more at that moment than I am in the game," he said, speaking through interpreter Ken Barron.
Ichiro said he can't remember exactly when or how the tradition started. He believes it dates to his initial All-Star Game at Safeco Field in his rookie season of 2001.
What he does know is that Ortiz, Boston's perennial All-Star, is the one who keeps it alive. Ortiz, voted by fans as the starting designated hitter, won't play because of an injury, but he will be in uniform for the game.
"If I don't do it this year, I want to see if we win," Ichiro said. "But Ortiz will make sure it happens."
:laugh