'Ichiro's biggest moment so far in New York came when he hit a home run in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Orioles. It was a momentous shot for the veteran, the 100th of his career, but he'll remember it more for the reaction from Yankees fans.

'"I don't know if it was because it was my first home run as a Yankee or because it was my 100th home run, but I don't think I have ever received that kind of ovation from the fans -- that many and that loud," Ichiro said. "Maybe it was the first time in my career I received something that big."'

Really?

How soon they forget. This guy doesn't remember all the standing O's he got when he broke batting records at Safeco? He doesn't remember the countless "I-CHI-RO!" chants led by the stadium graphics? He doesn't remember the ceremony when he broke Sisler's record and the applause he got then? He already forgot the standing O he got in his first at-bat as a Yankee?

This reminds me of Ray Allen's putdown of Seattle at his first news conference in Boston.

I started rooting for the M's because of Ichiro. I understand he took a lot of criticism in his last days here; but I didn't expect him to be such an ingrate.

You felt let down, Ichiro? Me too, now. You were my favorite player. No more. Crash and burn, Yankees.

So, do I have your forgiveness re: my disparaging remarks about the little guy on the day the deal occurred?

And ... Ichiro is now talking to the media more than semi-annually?

I'll be honest, urby...I don't remember what you said. Suffice it to say that I'll still defend his production when he was a producing member of this team; but, for the rest, I don't care what anybody says about him. If he's already forgotten all the love he got in Seattle, I'll gladly forget about him. Go, Mariners!

I was just home visiting NY a couple weeks ago, and went to a Yankees game. The atmosphere at Yankee Stadium is so much more energized than it is at Safeco Field. It's several times a game that the stadium really gets rocking.

It's far different than the more reserved atmosphere at Safeco Field. There are many times when I'm at Safeco Field, and it's a close game in the later innings, and there's a full count on the batter. And the fans should be getting into it. And, instead, they're doing the wave.

It's a much more intense atmosphere in NYC, and a much more fun one when the team is in first place.

Every single game, Ichiro has a mob of "Bleacher Creatures" chanting his name for a roll call. You just don't get that intensity and excitement at Safeco, at least not very often.

Just before I go, I attended several games in Seattle when he was in his string of 200+ hit seasons. He was on the receiving end of much fan love. Loud as New Yorkers, perhaps not, but with rare exception he received the loudest cheers at Safeco, in most cases for mere seeing eye singles.

Come off it, Dale. They were doing the wave at Yankee Stadium yesterday. I've been to both venues too (the old Yankee Stadium, which was every bit as fanatic as the new one), and in close and late games at the Safe with Ichiro up (a few years ago, when he was good) the place was every bit as charged as Yankee Stadium. So, please spare me the truism about laid-back Seattle fans. He got tremendous applause that went on for five minutes when he broke Sisler's record.

Wow, so ready to rip Ichiro and I thought at least you were one who was as saddened as I was with his trade. I don''t see how what he said as a put down on the Seattle fans. There are times the markee may be doing the I-Chi-Ro chat but how many are fans vs the sound system. I've been to games when he barely got a nod when he came up to bat. Sorry but it was nice that the Yankee fans have supported him and I am glad he is getting some love since Seattle and most reporters/bloggers and even past blowhard players totally ripped on him this last year. I believe he would still be a Mariner if it wasn't for the shoddy treatment he got from certain parties in the Mariner system. Yes, I've heard all the PR about him ASKING to be traded but who really wants to stay where you are clearly NOT wanted. (And he was quoted as saying he wanted to stay a Mariner and play where he is WANTED) It's hard for me to cheer at all for the Mariners after the trade. I'm still upset. And for me to cheer for the Yankees is a huge turnabout. But then again most of the Yankee's are full of ex Mariners. Don't be so quick to send him packing off.

So you're a Yankee fan now?

No I couldn't say that. I've despised that team for so long but for some reason I just don't feel the hate so much any more. I was actually sad & upset that Alex got hit and got a broken hand and before that I had his named banned at my house. So I am sure I'll get back to my undying love for the Mariners but I am having a hard time about it.

"I attended several games in Seattle when he was in his string of 200+ hit seasons. He was on the receiving end of much fan love. Loud as New Yorkers, perhaps not, but with rare exception he received the loudest cheers at Safeco, in most cases for mere seeing eye singles."

1.) That was a LONG time ago. Safeco was an exciting place from 2000-2003. It was exciting in 2004-2005 watching Ichiro pile-up all those hits.

But like I said, that's a long time ago. You remember the cheers from last night much more than you remember the cheers from 2004.

2.) I disagree with your premise that Ichiro got "seeing-eye singles." I mean, you might be able to get lucky over a month or two, or even a season. You don't get 225 hits per season for ten straight years on luck. Ichiro had unbelievable bat control.

And to those who say he got all these infield hits, well, HOW did he get them? He got them from tremendous natural ability plus an insane work ethic.

"Come off it, Dale."

It's really not even close. Safeco Field is a tennis match compared to Yankee Stadium, new or old. This isn't to say Yankees fans are the BEST fans in the world. (That would be Packers fans.) But for better or worse, New Yorkers are more plentiful. They're louder and they're more into the game than Mariners fans.

Comparing singles (skillful perhaps, but singles nevertheless) generated on a long time loser team, versus a HR IN YANKEE STADIUM WITH THE YANKS IN 1ST PLACE, is not a valid comparison of crowd enthusiasm.

When the Ms were a premiere team 9+ years ago, the home games were routinely 35K+, the yard was much louder. Seattle fans, like any city's fans, won't show up in droves for a team that makes last place a habit.

When the Yankees were often bad in the late 80s/early 90s, their attendance (in one of the most populous, wealthy cities on the planet) was (relatively) weak. And the Yanks actually finished last only once.

There's a certain mythological quality to Yankee Stadium's reputation. The truth is, your perception of the rabidness of the fans depends entirely on what kind of game it is (playoffs or a rivalry game, like the Sox-Yanks or the Mets-Yanks) and where you're sitting. I've sat in the bleachers and, of course, in the midst of an orchestrated hubbub raised by the world's most obscene, tasteless, vulgar fans -- a bunch of regulars who all know each other and use a repertoire of chants they've been doing for years -- Yankee Stadium seems like a one-of-a-kind bedlam.

But I've also sat on the opposite side of the field behind home plate, up in the second deck. From there, you hear the Bleacher Creatures doing their patented routines, but the noise is far away. I don't exaggerate at all when I tell you that the dullest ballgame I ever witnessed was up in the second deck behind home plate, a game featuring Tom Glavine on the mound for the Atlanta Braves. The fans around me were more interested in the food vendors than the game. They were holding conversations, diddling with their cell phones, and ignoring the action on the field. The experience was a complete snorer. I've heard fans at Seattle five times as loud and far more engaged. And please don't tell me that the playoff games in 2001 featuring Ichiro were tame compared to Yankee Stadium. I'm not buying it.

Nowadays, sure. Safeco is half-empty and we've been watching a struggling, losing team piling up futile seasons for several years now, with a loser managing the team. Who the heII is going to get excited about Hector Noesi on the mound and Chone Figgins in left field?

"Wow, so ready to rip Ichiro and I thought at least you were one who was as saddened as I was with his trade."

Ready? No. Disappointed? You bet. I'll turn it around: is Ichiro so ready to rip the Seattle fans who idolized him for 10 years? Apparently so. Oh, well. I defended him against his detractors passionately for years, and now I feel betrayed. But, that's cool. I'm over it already. Let him have his fun in New York, and may they go into a tailspin while the M's make an unthinkable charge towards the Wild Card. It'd serve him right.

I've been a M's fan since '78 (okay, it took me a year to catch on) - but I don't see Ichiro's comments as a rip on Seattle at all - more like he just feels more appreciated in NY.

I can't say I blame him - considering the Ichiro bashing that was happening before he left.

He could've said how impressed he was with his New York reception without the invidious comparison with Seattle fans. The fans at Safeco showed him plenty of love through the years. And he'll find that the Yankees won't ponder whether to retain him if he tanks, the way this franchise did. They'll drop him in the proverbial New York minute, because they're all about winning, and nobody except Jeter is indispensible...and even Jeter got miffed by their cool approach to his last contract negotiations. In the Bronx, you're only as good as your last few at-bats. He'll find that out soon enough. He was king of the hill for years in Seattle; he's just one more player there.

"Comparing singles (skillful perhaps, but singles nevertheless) generated on a long time loser team, versus a HR IN YANKEE STADIUM WITH THE YANKS IN 1ST PLACE, is not a valid comparison of crowd enthusiasm."

Obviously, this is true. Like I said, the first year I lived in Seattle (2003), Safeco Field had a great atmosphere.

I can remember SPECIFICALLY the end of the Mariners dynasty. If you recall, Jeff Nelson made some remarks criticizing GM Pat Gillick for never making the big trade deadline move to give the team that extra boost for a playoff push.

I guess Gillick said, "You want me to make a move, Jeff Nelson? Here. You're traded to the Yankees for Armando Benitez."

I don't know if you have players like this, but Armando Benitez is one of those guys where every time I ever see him pitch in any kind of important game, he f**ks up.

I'm from NY, so going back as far as 1995, it didn't matter if Benitez was throwing 100 MPH, had a 1.11 ERA, had struck-out 47 batters in the last twenty innings. He must have had a 0.13 ERA in other games, because whenever I watched him pitch, Armando Benitez gave-up at least one run, usually more, and often failed to finish the inning.

So, when the Mariners traded Nelson for Benitez, I knew the Mariners were doomed.

On Sept. 9th, 2003, the M's were one game back of the A's for the AL West lead. They were in a virtual tie with the Red Sox for the Wild Card. They also had the best Run Differential in the AL.

That day, the M's were playing the last-place Rangers. The M's jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Ryan Franklin pitched 7.33 innings, allowing just one run.

The M's were winning 4-1 with one out and nobody on base in the top of the eighth. For reasons I don't know, Manager Bob Melvin removed Franklin, who was at 105 pitches. Arthur Rhodes entered the game and allowed a groundball single.

Enter Armando Benitez - one out, one on, top 8th, M's winning 4-1. Benitez walked Alex Rodriguez, before allowing a three-run HR to Rafael Palmeiro to tie the game at four.

The Mariners went on to lose this game in extra innings. One week later, the M's were four games behind the A's in the AL West, and trailed the Red Sox by two games for the Wild Card. A week later still, the Mariners were five games in back of the A's, and four games behind the Red Sox.

Basically, as a fan, with some exceptions here and there, it has all been downhill for this organization since Sept. 9th, 2003. The M's haven't given fans that much to cheer about.

"When the Yankees were often bad in the late 80s/early 90s, their attendance (in one of the most populous, wealthy cities on the planet) was (relatively) weak. And the Yanks actually finished last only once."

I can tell you from personal experience that that's certainly true. But those days were fun, in a way. Old Yankee Stadium was a pretty cool, old building, and when no one was showing up at the games, you could buy a seat in the upper deck, and gradually move your way down.

Plus, the fans who did show up at those games were much cooler. I mean, back then, an upper deck seat was $3-6. So, it was, like, 20,000 old New Yorkers with home-made scorecards and transistor radios. And Dave LaPoint was the ace of the staff.

I miss those days!

'Ichiro's biggest moment so far in New York came when he hit a home run in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Orioles. It was a momentous shot for the veteran, the 100th of his career, but he'll remember it more for the reaction from Yankees fans.

'"I don't know if it was because it was my first home run as a Yankee or because it was my 100th home run, but I don't think I have ever received that kind of ovation from the fans -- that many and that loud," Ichiro said. "Maybe it was the first time in my career I received something that big."'

Really?

I really think he was just swept up in the moment. I mean he came from Japan where he is a god and fans are way more animated and vocal. If he meant it as a put down then he was putting down all his early career top moments too in Japan.