In addition to his talents & accomplishments, Ichiro being the first Japanese-born player inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame later today has been frequently discussed. It got me wondering who the first Japanese-born American athlete with a sports card was, so I embarked on an exhaustive five-minute Google search. :-)

It seems that wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda (probably) has this honor with his inclusion in Allen & Ginter’s 1888 “The World’s Champions” set. Although his career in the US only lasted eight years before dying destitute in 1891, he accomplished enough to be recognized by Allen & Ginter and as a result is memorialized in one of the most iconic sports card releases of all-time - a much different, but still important, type of Hall of Fame…

I moved to the Seattle area in 2003 and got to see most of Ichiro’s time with the Mariners. He was always mesmerizing to watch, though In hindsight I wish I had watched more of his Hall of Fame career than I did (young kids tend to have that effect). Really looking forward to Sunday’s ceremony!

Happy 4th everyone!

If you read comics back in the mid-to-late '70s, you inevitably saw this Spalding Street Ball ad. This Dr. J and Rick Barry-signed poster version is one of my favorite pieces as it has that SPALDING TOUCH!!!

I became a Sonics fan when I moved to the Seattle area in the early 2000s and absolutely fell head-over-heels for Kevin Durant when I watched him play in person against my Jayhawks in 2007, so I was ecstatic when he was drafted. But then, well - you know the rest.

I'm absolutely convinced however, that if the Sonics hadn't been stolen from Seattle (in an absolute cluster f**k at multiple points by multiple people - and yes, I'm still bitter) that Durant would have played his entire career here and quite possibly have won multiple titles. Today's trade announcement makes me wonder "what might have been"...

...and cheer that much harder for the Pacers tonight!