Late season game in Seattle. The Mariners clinging to the outer edges of the wild card race like a drowning man to a piece of driftwood. The Yankees marching through on their victory parade. The M's do, however, have King Felix on the mound, finally living up to every expectation this breakthrough season.
The teams struggle against good pitching through 9 innings. The Yanks take a 2-1 lead on some questionable defense (aside-is Bill Hall's bat so valuable that it was worth playing him when he can't run?). The M's sputtering offense hits two major potholes. Ichiro is picked off twice. Never happened to him before. The second time he was safe, but the ump blew the call. Ichiro sits on the bench, simmering, stewing, clearly embarassed.
This is what makes baseball a great sport. The opportunity for dazzling one on one matchups and the chance for redemption. Still down 2-1 with two outs in the 9th, what remains of the once great Mike Sweeney slams a double off of THE-GREATEST-CLOSER-EVER-MARIANO-RIVERA and brings--wait for it--Ichiro--to the plate. It can't happen. Two Hall of Fame ballplayers facing off. Rivera hasn't blown a save against Seattle since the 90's. Ichiro is embarassed, humiliated by his prior failures (in perspective, at this point, he's 3 for 4 on the day). First pitch, Mariano tries to get ahead with his stinker sinker, and Ichiro is ready for it. He cheats in the box, adjusting his stance for a pitch inside and he catches the pitch perfectly, smashing a game winning arch to right field. PERFECT!
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