A Glorious Day for the Seattle Mariners

It's rare to say that I am happy to be a Mariners fan. But yesterday was truly a great day.

1. Ichiro wins the All-Star game MVP after hitting an inside the park home run.

2. Reports come out that Ichiro is on the verge of signing a 5 year, 100 million dollar contract to stay in Seattle. This would keep him through his first 12 years as a major leaguer, meaning he would probably retire in Seattle and go into the Hall of Fame as a Mariner.

3. Reports also come out that the Mariners are calling up Adam Jones, their top prospect and benching the horrible Jose Vidro. This probably moves Raul Ibanez to DH, getting his iron glove out of LF and replacing with a batter who seems clearly ready.

4. The Mariners start the second half 13 games over .500 and 2 1/2 behind the Angels for the AL West lead.

5. The Yankees suck.

It's still hard to imagine Seattle competing for the playoffs. But at least for right now, it feels really good to be a Mariners fan. As one of the writers for USS Mariner says, "As a lifelong Mariner fan, I’m used to finding a pot of crap at the end of the rainbow. I like this better."

Indeed!