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Many things about the beginning of this season sailors are a little off. But I suppose that goes without saying in a year of seismic change and philosophical recalibration.
On the one hand, they will play games that count for mid-March, while 28 other teams are still solving their winter problems. They will play these first two games on another continent, in the wee hours of Wednesday and Thursday morning in Seattle, without the spectators, except the most reckless, do not see it.
But the most disturbing element of the start of the Mariners' 2019 season concerns their two legends, Ichiro and Felix Hernandez, stuck in various uncomfortable limbo states.
The way they unravel these threads will provide much of the early drama of sailors.
Ichiro, perhaps the worst batter of all leagues of Cactus and Grapefruit this spring, will still be in training for the Mariners' first day against Oakland at the Tokyo Dome.
I do not know what is the most incongruous – Ichiro is getting the green light for the first game, or Felix is not. The king on the mound to start the season has become a rite of spring in Seattle.
But we are there. Permission to speak frankly: neither Ichiro nor Felix – both are only name icons – are long for this team. In fact, if it was a normal season, Ichiro's poor spring (2 of 31 with 10 strikeouts) would have caused the Mariners to eliminate it gently and tactfully.
And if finances were not a factor, it's hard to imagine a pitcher whose EAR has risen four seasons in a row, up to 5.55 in 2018, and sporting an ERA north of the 15th spring without no sign of waiting for mastery, would do in the regular season.
But it's not a normal season. On the one hand, victories and defeats are not at the top of the list of seafarers' priorities. In this dynamic, I do not think anyone who blames Ichiro for sending a ceremony to his homeland, where he is loved, almost beyond comprehension.
And finances are a factor. No ball club is going to waste $ 27 million, Hernandez's salary in the last year (thankfully) of his contract, without having first sought to know if anything, something would be taken away from him.
The challenge facing sailors, which may be unsolvable, is to train these two players, which will inevitably be the result, with a minimum of resentment and with the respect that their careers deserve.
One of the things we learned in sports in Seattle is that it's hard to leave the city with goodwill and mutual affection – at least not at the beginning.
We have seen this in recent years with the Seahawks with Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett and Earl Thomas. We saw him at the Mariners with Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez and even Lou Piniella. We saw him on the Sonics with Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp.
Not to contradict The Bard, but in sports, to separate can be a source of sorrow. But we also found that in most cases, time healed wounds – on both sides.
According to Ryan Divish, a Times reporter, Ichiro will be removed from the Mariners' 40 sailors soon after the trip to Japan. This is the only possible result. Although I wrote this winter that I would have no problem with Seattle guarding Ichiro this season for ceremonial and mentoring reasons, it was before I saw it play this spring. He watched every second of 45 years.
Time is moving in one direction and the sad reality is that Ichiro has arrived at the end of the line, whether he recognizes it or not. And I suspect that he is finally ready to do it.
We continue to say goodbye to Ichiro in Seattle. We did it when it was traded to the Yankees in 2012, and again when the Mariners removed it from the list of active players last May. I think the final goodbye will take place towards the opening weekend of the season at home and Ichiro deserves all the adulation that, in my opinion, will bathe him again.
Felix presents a much thornier dilemma. He will turn 33 on April 8, not the age when a proud athlete concedes defeat. For a long time, Hernandez did not show the willingness to recognize that a change in pitching style was made necessary by his decreasing power. And now that the achievement is finally good, he has not yet demonstrated his ability to forge a new style that will make it effective.
Of course, spring training is just spring training, unless you're 45, and maybe Felix is holding back for games that matter. Perhaps the rebirth of the king will be played in real time, from April 2 against the angels.
Or maybe not. Whatever it is, these are the last days for Felix Hernandez in Seattle. It will make its way – it seems inevitable – by being so good that someone else wants it, or so badly that nobody wants it.
It seems that there is not much compromise, at least one that suits both sides. As such, there is an undeniable tension surrounding Hernandez nowadays, and that augurs badly. There is also an undeniable melancholy, for reasons that should not be explained.
I sincerely hope that this does not end in acrimony, because the work of Hernandez, like that of Ichiro, deserves a clear end. I am convinced that his adulation will come too. Finally.
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