SIXTEEN INNINGS? o_O

THE GOOD

Lawrie (left), Arencibia, and Vizquel celebrate JP's game-winning HR

 I'm not sure if this is a by-product of the JP Ricciardi era of Blue Jays history, but whenever a game went into extra innings I thought the Jays would find a way to lose that game. In tonight's history making season opener in Cleveland against the Indians, the Blue Jays shut down the Tribe, who roared out of the gate 4-0 after the second inning, and then came back to tie the game in the ninth, take the lead and win in the sixteenth! Credit for game-winning hit goes to Blue Jays catcher JP Arencibia, whose three-run homerun in the last frame put Toronto into the lead to stay ^_^ Something about those uniforms just looks right, don't you agree?

Something I found just as impressive, if not more, is the maturity and focus of Blue Jays starting pitcher Ricky Romero. In the previous two seasons, Romero would cap off poor performances and bad innings with an angry, glove slamming tirade in the dugout. However, after giving up four runs to Cleveland in the second inning, Romero entered the dugout in a calm and measured manner similar to one Roy Halladay of years past ^_^. When the head man or the leader is calm, then the team is calm and ready to tackle the task at hand: Joe Montana did it, Tiger Woods had it, Roy Halladay does it, and now so does Ricky Romero ^_^

THE BAD

I don't know what is worse: The Marlins wasting a solid outing from free agent, Cy Young winner Mark Buehrle, or the ghastly jerseys they wore o_O Everything looks alright on the front, I suppose. The black long sleeve shirt coupled with the alternate black jersey takes your eyes off the giant, multi-coloured "M". However, the back of the jersey is a real piece of work o_O ORANGE NUMBERS?! Considering Johnny Cueto's seven-inning, three hit shutout performance, the colour of the Marlins' numbers is irrelevant when all their numbers are the same: ZERO.

THE UGLY

I would make a reference to Shin-Soo Choo starting a dust up in an otherwise tight, extra-inning affair against the Blue Jays in Cleveland, but unfortunately I still can't take my eyes off that awful thing just off his left shoulder -_- If a baseball team dressed in a similar garb with an African-American equivalent to "Chief Wahoo", the game would be suspended, the public relations director, marketing director, general manager, and all who sowed on those patches would be fired on the spot. #Justsaying

Early to Bed, Early to Pitch =_=

ICHIRO jersey available NOW at shop.mlb.com ^_^

With the Major League Baseball season kicking off across the pond (The Pacific one, not the Atlantic o_O), game time for the Seattle Mariners and the Oakland Athletics begins at 5:04am Eastern Time at the Tokyo Dome.

I remember when American television executives requested start times for sporting events in far and distant lands to be pushed back so they could showcase those events in prime-time. They did it for "The Rumble in the Jungle", but this isn't a boxing match between two heavyweights, and the Yankees and Red Sox are still in the sunny climbs of Florida suffering from near tropical weather, deadly orange juice cocktails, and the menace known only as "Lee Roy Selmon's Restaurant" and their exquisite cuisine. So terrifying indeed o_O

Known as the away match for the Season Opener the previous day, Seattle won that game 3-1 in extra innings thanks to Dustin Ackley's 2 "ribbies" (2 RBIs or runs batted in for those unfamiliar with ball talk): A solo home-run in the fourth inning, followed an RBI single in the eleventh frame.

Ichiro (at bat) with one of four Opening Day hits vs Athletics (Toronto Star)

It's good to see Seattle star Ichiro perform in front of his native land; his four hit performance is another Opening Day record in the fact book for the Mariners. I still question why Ichiro doesn't try his hand at batting for a competitive team in the American League East Division, where clutch hitting and national exposure can go a long way for a player's career and reputation. No offence to the Seattle Mariners, but a player with 200 hits could see their name on MVP ballots and postseason game reports playing for the New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, or maybe this year my Toronto Blue Jays ^_^

Dropping Ichiro in the batting order is one of the first signs the Mariners ball club is in need of a culture change. Since the days of Ken Griffey Jr, Seattle loved their all-star players, and as long as they hit the ball and bolstered fantasy league scores there was no problem. Assets depreciate over time, and the Mariners found that even the great superstar Ichiro Suzuki is showing signs of rust at thirty-seven years of age, according to Steven Goldman of the Bleacher Report. The Mariners finished dead last in the West Division of the American League in three of the previous four campaigns, and went through just as many managers during that span, if not more. The Pineda trade with the Yankees in the off-season is a step in a direction towards competing with the Rangers and Angels, but I hardly call it the right one. Albeit too late, I see the Mariners preparing for life after Ichiro :(

If Ichiro taught me anything about baseball, it is the higher the knee socks, the better the player ^_^ "High knee socks means he's good!" - Benson Chiu