Slog - Comments on Slate on Ichiro http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro Refusing the easy banalities embraced by other major leaguers, Ichiro approached the media with a Rumsfeldian mix of impatience and amateur epistemology. On Sunday, I sat next to a Mariners employee who said he's heard Ichiro speak perfect English. I've always assumed he spoke English--he'd have to be pretty stupid to have not learned it by now--and I have all the more respect for him because he never lets it show. If you're a professional athlete, smart, and you have the opportunity to not speak directly to the press, you take it. Article.... Copyright 2008 Wed, 01 Aug 2007 13:58:00 -0800 Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:11:47 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Lloyd Clydesdale English cop, Japanese cop.

]]> Lloyd Clydesdale http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773707 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773707 Sports Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:04:59 -0800 Comment by Itchy Row Rumsfeldian:
You go to the plate with the big black bat that you have.

Theres the pitches you know, and then the pitches you don't know, and the pitches that you know you don't know, etc.

]]> Itchy Row http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773714 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773714 Sports Wed, 01 Aug 2007 14:13:06 -0800 Comment by Trey There's one baseball writer - I can't find his name just now - who speaks fluent Japanese and has interviewed Ichiro entirely in Japanese, then published articles based on the interviews with his own translations of Ichiro's words. The articles show the guy to have a first-class mind, in part because they're translated by someone who's a bit more polished than your average dugout translator. If anyone can locate these (one was published as a long-form Sunday sports piece in the Seattle Times after last season, I believe) please post them.

]]> Trey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773764 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773764 Sports Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:11:42 -0800 Comment by sars just for the record, he doesn't have an "an average dugout translator."

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20070720/SPORTS/707200386/1004/SPORTS

I grew up with ken, he's an intelligent and all around nice guy.

]]> sars http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773793 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773793 Sports Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:37:42 -0800 Comment by brian here's my favorite Ichiro quote:

On a missed fly ball: "The ball became the same color as the sky, so I wasn't able to see it," he said through his interpreter. "It's not like I had my eyes closed."
Then, he continued.

"I was sending mental signals for the ball not to come my way because at that time of day, it is impossible for me to see. I was lacking mental signals. Usually, I don't think about these things, but this was the first time I said to the ball, 'Please don't come my way.'

"I lacked mental signals and that's what I regret."

]]> brian http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773812 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c773812 Sports Wed, 01 Aug 2007 15:51:34 -0800 Comment by lostboy Jeez, a guy shows some glimmer of originality or a sense of humor, and Slate publishes an article questioning his sanity?

It seems like people are reacting as much as anything to the relatively literal translations of Ichirō's remarks. It doesn't seem that hard to me to imagine American players saying the same things as Ichirō in more conversational English, but maybe that's because I can guess at some of the original Japanese (or maybe because I know approximately nothing about baseball).

As for the observation Hecht reports, there are times that I'm able to speak perfect Japanese. They are the exception.

]]> lostboy http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c774123 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c774123 Sports Thu, 02 Aug 2007 06:24:37 -0800 Comment by bohu qlmzsv oyfdhjbui aujhtbcir qunrmdyk wdmhe jziehsmt zxtpsb ytfepma

]]> bohu qlmzsv http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c781863 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c781863 Sports Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:10:28 -0800 Comment by shjc dfgbnivs fxryc supbhkir bdlqmo imlog fpwnurd utpqsrx thfaibq http://www.zjdqwvgp.cdbnqva.com

]]> shjc dfgbnivs http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c781866 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/08/slate_on_ichiro#c781866 Sports Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11:11:47 -0800