Liberal Arts Blog — Tour of the US (XVII): Seattle: Mariners (Baseball), Seahawks (football), Storm (Women’s Basketball)
Liberal Arts Blog — Saturday is Sports, Dance, Fitness, and All Things Physical Day
Today’s Topic: Tour of the US (XVII): Seattle: Mariners (baseball), Seahawks (football), Storm (women’s basketball)
The premise of the series is that the more you know about the more topics more people care most about the greater your chance of having a meaningful conversation and a moment of shared joy. And the more beautiful the world becomes.
This is the seventeenth in a series that has so far taken us to: Detroit, Cleveland, Chicago, Boston, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Kansas City, St. Louis, Dallas Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Denver, Miami, Baltimore, and, last week, Atlanta.
Are you from Seattle? Are you now or have you ever been a Mariners, Seahawks, Kraken, or Storm fan? Favorite player? Ken Griffey, Jr.? Ichiro Suzuki? Edgar Martinez? Randy Johnson? Steve Largent? Bobby Wagner? Walter Jones? Jared McCann? Brandon Tanev? Sue Bird? Betty Lenox? Lauren Jackson? Seattle has won 1 Super Bowl (2013), 1 Stanley Cup (the first one, in 1917), 0 World Series, 0 American League pennants. In fact the Mariners have and the “longest active World Series appearance drought in Major League Baseball.” Seattle does not have an NBA team but its WNBA team, the Storm has appeared in the WNBA playoffs in 18 of 24 seasons and are four time WNBA champions, tied for first with the Houston Comets and the Minnesota Lynx.
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
SEATTLE MARINERS — Ken Griffey, Jr., (1989–99, 2009–2010), Edgar Martinez (1987–2004), Ichiro Susuki (2001–2012, 2018–2019)
1. Ken Griffey, Jr. (above) — in 1989 joined Seattle as a rookie aged 19 and over the next decade “would make 10 All-Star Games, win ten Gold Gloves, win the 1997 AL MVP award and capture seven Silver Sluggers (for best offensive player at each position). He played center field and is the Mariners’ all time leader in home runs (417).
2. Edgar Martinez: “seven-time MLB All-Star, five time Silver Slugger (at third base), and two time batting champion. He is one of 18 MLB players to record a batting average of .300, an on-base percentage of .400 and a slugging percentage of .500 in 5,000 or more plate appearances.”
3. Ichiro Suzuki — after a successful career in Japan, he came to Seattle in 2001 and won both the American League Rookie of the year award and American League Most Valuable Player award — one of only two players ever to do so. “Throughout his Mariners’ career, Ichito would lead the AL in hits seven times, qualify for 10 All-Star Games, win a second batting title and win 10 Gold Gloves. Like Griffey, he left Seattle late in his career and then returned to play out his last MLB games in the city where he started. Ichiro retired as the Mariners’ all-time leader in hits, batting average, and stolen bases, and will almost certainty be inducted into the Hall of Fame the first year he’s eligible in 2025.”
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS — Steve Largent (wide receiver, below) , Walter Jones (left tackle), Cortez Kennedy (defensive tackle)
1. Steve Largent (‘Yoda”): “Regarded as one of the greatest wide receivers of all time, he held all major NFL receiving records at the time of his retirement.” His nickname was Yoda for “his ability to catch anything coming at him.” After retirement he served as US Representative from Oklahoma from 1994 to 2002. He resigned his seat to run for Governor but lost.
2. Walter Jones “Big Walt” : “At 6–5, 330. he had ideal left tackle size, the feet of a dancer, the punch of a jackhammer, and the speed of a tight end.” Over his career, he was “a seven-time All-Pro selection and eventual NFL 2000s All Decade Team honoree. Starting in each of his 180 games in Seattle, the Seahawks attempted more than 5,500 passes with Jones on the field, while Jones gave up a total of only 23 quarterback sacks, and was penalized for holding just nine times.”
3. Cortez “Big Fella” Kennedy : “spent his entire 11 year career with the Seahawks. He redefined and expanded the possibilities of how a large-bodied interior lineman could be used. In 1992, he won the Defensive Player of the Year award despite his team finishing 2–14.”
THE SEATTLE STORM (WNBA) Sue Bird (below), Betty Lenox, Lauren Jackson
1. Sue (“DB”) Bird: four WBNA championships (2004, 2010,2018,2020), five Olympic Gold Medals (2004,2008,2012,2016,2020), two NCAA championship with UConn, four International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cups. Can you imagine what “DB” stands for?
2. Betty (“B-Money”) Lenox: Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2004 WNBA Finals victory, the first for the Storm.
3. Lauren (“Lox,” “LJ,” or “Jacko”) Jackson — Australian, 6 ft 5 in, power forward/center, Two WNBA championships (2004,2010), three league MVPs 2003, 2007, 2010.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_Jones_(American_football)
On-base percentage — Wikipedia
How Cortez Kennedy became the NFL’s premiere DT (1992)
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
For the last four years of posts organized by theme:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
YOUR TURN
Please share the coolest thing you learned this week related to sports, dance, fitness. Or the coolest thing you learned about Sports, Dance, of Fitness in your life — whether on the field, on the dance floor or in the gym, whether from a coach, a parent, a friend, or just your own experimentation.
This is your chance to make some one else’s day. Or even change their life. It’s perhaps a chance to put into words something you have never articulated before. And to cement in your own memory something cool you might otherwise forget. Or to think more deeply than otherwise about something dear to your heart.
