Featured autograph - Ichiro Suzuki

I'm afraid as the years pass and new players sprout, there will be less guys to count - but it's fun to go back and remember times when I've gotten someone like Ichiro's autograph in-person.

Now, the all-world hit king is stepping away for a bit away for a bit, likely maybe forever as a player - despite the feel good aspect of Ichiro signing with the Mariners in spring training, the team just couldn't carry his corpse any longer as one of the guys on the team's 25-man roster.

I don't exactly play the game I've seen fans do [through occasional posts on Web sites] where when someone accomplishes a feat, leaves the game as a player or gets into the Hall of Fame - they do a mental calculation whether if they've seen him play in-person.

Too many times where I'm at a game and the last thing I'm paying attention to is the action on the field - as odd as it may sound, it maybe harder to get into a MLB game in-person because there is just this huge separation from the cheap seats to the field.

My up close big league action happened before the game started when players might have once come by the stands and signed an autograph - it's easier for me to mentally check off notable players whose autographs I've gotten in-person, than make note of the notable players I've actually seen play in-person.