[ValerieUSA]

I love the homerun hitters! Ken Griffey Jr., Jay Buehner, Edgar Martinez (especially Edgar!) Alex Rodriguez even the catcher Dan Wilson would get in on the Mariner's homerun act. Oh well, it's not the same team now..... but it was fun while it lasted even though it didn't do the pennant thang. Nothing like getting out the rye bread for a Mariner Grand Salami.

[BluesDuke]

Believe me, I don't dislike the home run bombers. But I do prefer balanced baseball. Something is badly amiss when batting practise machines have better ERAs than human major league pitchers do. It's just as bad if the balance is overweighted toward pitching as when it is toward hitting.

[BluesDuke]

And besides, for all those home run hitters the Mariners had in that time, what they didn't have was an Ichiro Suzuki. Put it this way: Those other gentlemen were home run hitters but not much in the way of being ballplayers. Ichiro Suzuki may not be the second coming of Sadaharu Oh, but he is what even Junior is not, for all his power: a ballplayer. I dare say he will prove to be but one thing for the Mariners: The Franchise.