NewsMariners hope to adorn trophy mantel
Ichiro gets Gold Glove; Felix, Wakamatsu in award contention
By Jim Street / MLB.com
11/10/09 3:19 PM EST
Ichiro Suzuki continued two of his career-long streaks in 2009, being selected to the American League All-Star team and accumulating at least 200 hits.
The Mariners right fielder is now 9-for-9 in both categories and added a third on Tuesday when the AL Gold Glove winners were announced, kicking off two weeks of postseason awards that ends on Nov. 24 with the National League Most Valuable Player being announced.
Another Gold Glove this year moved Ichiro within one of the Seattle record Ken Griffey Jr. holds -- 10 straight from 1990-99.
The Mariners could be involved in two of the other upcoming awards.
Besides Ichiro's golden touch on defense, ace right-hander Felix Hernandez is expected to finish high in the AL Cy Young Award voting, and manager Don Wakamatsu could be among the top vote-getters for the AL Manager of the Year Award.
Hernandez had a breakout 19-win season, establishing career highs in wins, starts (34), ERA (2.49), innings pitched (238 2/3), strikeouts (217) and ranked among the league leaders in numerous categories.
He was tied for first in wins, second in ERA and starts, third in innings pitched and fourth in strikeouts. Hernandez and Blue Jays right-hander Roy Halladay were the only AL pitchers to rank in the top five in each of the pitching Triple Crown categories -- wins, ERA and strikeouts.
That being said, Royals right-hander Zack Greinke is favored to win the coveted award after having his own career year.
Whereas Hernandez struggled during the first six weeks of the season -- he was 4-3 with a 4.13 ERA on May 19 -- Greinke was outstanding from start to finish for the Royals, who won 20 fewer games than the Mariners.
Greinke led the Major Leagues with a 2.16 ERA and ranked third in strikeouts with 242.
He already has landed three postseason awards: the AL Outstanding Pitcher as part of the Major League Baseball Players Association's Players Choice Awards; Sporting News American League Pitcher of the Year and the American League "Bullet" Rogan Award winner as the AL's top pitcher by the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.
Felix learns his fate on Nov. 17, the day before the top manager in each league is announced.
General manager Jack Zduriencik hit a home run in selecting Wakamatsu as his first manager.
Wakamatsu helped restore franchise respectability in his first season as a big league manager. He inherited a 101-loss team, built what he called a "belief system," and guided the Mariners to an 85-77 record. The 24-win improvement was tops in the Major Leagues.
"When I was in the interview process, one of the things I was looking for in my manager was consistency. It's difficult to deal with people that are up and down, up and down, up and down," Zduriencik said. "I think I found that in Don."
Jim Street is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
