To say it's been a rough season for the Seattle Mariners would be an understatement. I think colossal season from hell is more appropriate. But I never thought it would get this bad.Apparently, Ichiro is so unpopular in the Mariners clubhouse right now that some of his teammates actually planned on giving him the New Jersey special. Also known as beating the living snot out of him.
According to the Seattle Times Mariners blog:
A clubhouse insider -- sorry, can't get more specific than that, but the source is golden and others have confirmed his account -- says animosity towards Ichiro by teammates was so heavy in the first few months of the season that he feared the Japanese leadoff man was going to be physically attacked in the clubhouse. The coaching staff intervened and called a team meeting to clear the air over allegations Ichiro was a "selfish'' player. A similar meeting was called in May 2007 at Tropicana Field because of internal grumbling by players about Ichiro.
Apparently in the paper today there was even more on the situation.
John McLaren, the Mariners' manager at the time, reportedly intervened when he overheard a player talking about Ichiro, saying he wanted to "knock him out."
The reason why Mariners players are so pissed off is that they consider Ichiro to be solely focused on statistics, and not a team player.
Well, I have to be honest, when you're an All-Star and future Hall of Famer playing on a 100 loss team, would you be much of a team player? I sure as hell wouldn't be. I'd be doing everything possible to get myself traded, including pissing on Adrian Beltre's locker.
It's also bizarre that Ichiro is so unpopular in the Mariners clubhouse, especially since he's such a favorite in the AL All-Star locker room. Maybe Ichiro just doesn't tell enough foul mouthed jokes in the Mariners clubhouse. That's gotta be it.
Where membership has no privileges [Mariners Blog]
Teammates considered hurting Ichiro [MSNBC]
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