Some great quotes from Ichiro, commenting on various events over the course of the 2007 MLB season:

No one in baseball puts thoughts into words more eloquently than the one, the only Ichiro Suzuki. The evidence please:

• Third prize: On whether he thought, after his team’s 14th loss in 16 games, that his teammates were pressing: “I don’t even comprehend that word. … If someone did 100 sprints before games, then maybe he’d be pressing, but there’s no such idiots on this team.”

• Second prize: On the Mariners’ crazy schedule, which caused them to make three first-half trips to Cleveland because of a four-game April snowout: “If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”

• First prize: On the prospect of facing his countryman, Daisuke Matsuzaka, for the first time in the big leagues: “I hope he arouses the fire that’s dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger.”

This excerpt is from the Stark: 2007 MLB Season in Review. It’s actually a really great read that pretty much sums up the season that has just been wrapped up. I recommend it to anybody who follows Major League Baseball.