End nearing for Ichiro?

It looks like it.  According to this report, Ichiro is the Yankees’ 5th outfielder.

The time comes for all of them, no matter their former greatness. And so it has come for Ichiro Suzuki.

No longer a slap-hitting machine at 40, Ichiro has an uncertain role on the New York Yankees roster. Actually, maybe it is quite certain, just not very vital. As the New York Post’s Joel Sherman writes:

“[The Yankees] have a four-man outfield/DH rotation with Carlos Beltran, Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner and Alfonso Soriano. That makes Ichiro the majors’ most-famous fifth outfielder.”

Should he stick with the Yankees, Sherman estimates he’ll start weekly, be inserted for late-inning defense, pinch hit and pinch run. At the end of the year, he might total 200 plate appearances.

Hat Tip: Nebraska

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

“Like a Ferrari is a car.”

said Paul Reid of the Palm Beach Post.

Reid was interviewing Teddy Ballgame late in Ted’s life.

Sliding a baseball across his kitchen table Ted Williams told Reid, “I was a ballplayer.”  Reid’s reply was, ” like a Ferrari is a car.”

Any baseball fan should consider reading , The Kid –  The Immortal Life of Ted Williams, by Ben Bradley. It’s long but fantastic.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

Nice article about Iggy…

From SportsOnEarth, Motown Motivation by Matt Crossman:

Iglesias’ hands are so fast, and his range so vast, that when second baseman Ian Kinsler was traded to the Tigers in the offseason, Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia sent Kinsler a warning via text: “Hey, man, you’re going to love Iggy. But keep your glove up. You’ll get hit right in the teeth, look like a hockey player.”

Iglesias’ defensive reputation has preceded him since he learned to field grounders hit by his dad on a diamond near their house in Cuba. The better Iglesias got at catching them, the more he scooted in, and the harder his dad hit them.

“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Ian Kinsler Glad To Leave Rangers…

In a candid interview with ESPN, Kinsler calls Texas GM, Jon Daniels, a “sleazeball” and says he hopes the Rangers go 0-162.

Here is a link to the interview.

Ian Kinsler and Family
(Kinsler, along with wife Tess, Jack and Rien, is signed through 2017 — long enough, he hopes, for his kids to remember seeing him play.)

Interestingly, Kinsler says that after the Rangers made it to the world series everybody got a big ego, except, Nolan Ryan.

“God I love baseball.” -Roy Hobbs | The Natural

HABEMUS PIZZA…

Ok, so this post has nothing to do with baseball; or hockey; and I’m not catholic.

I recently went to Rome.  I visited the vatican and saw this pizza place called, “Habemus Pizza”.  I thought this was an appropriate and clever play on words.

When a new pope is selected an announcement is made, “Habemus Papam”, meaning, “we have a pope”.

Habemus Pizza
Habemus Pizza – We Have Pizza

“God I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural