Talking Points 9/24

1

For all of the records and all of the eye-popping statistics, there in one thing for which Ichiro doesn’t receive nearly enough credit: His league-leading reservoir of cool.

With his nerveless demeanor and his debonair approach to the game, the Seattle Mariner stalwart brings a certain Bond-like swagger to baseball. That’s Bond, not Bonds.

Now, Ichiro has reached 200 hits for the 10th straight season, the first player in history to do so. It’s a noteworthy accomplishment, but it ranks behind his aloof coolness as his most important contribution to the game.

2

While Thursday was an historic day for Ichiro, it might have been historically frustrating for Felix Hernandez. King Felix allowed two hits and one run in eight innings, and of course the Mariners lost, 1-0.

That dropped his league-leading ERA to 2.31, but it also dropped his record to 12-12. Hernandez has been the best pitcher in the American League this year, but Seattle’s epochally bad offense has resulted in his .500 record and likely has eliminated any chance that he will win the Cy Young Award.

3

OK, so the weather hasn’t cooperated with its typical late-September balminess. But that’s no reason not to attend a high school football game tonight.

The marquee game might be when Skyview visits Camas for a non-league tilt, but there are plenty of worthy offerings throughout the county.