Tim Beckham hit two of Seattle’s five home runs as the Mariners defeated the visiting Boston Red Sox 12-4 Thursday in their home opener.

The self-realization of who they were and who they never could become came at different moments for the Mariners’ decision-makers. Why pretend to be something you’re not?

The Mariners should still be a strong offensive team with the ability to hit home runs despite the removal of Nelson Cruz, Robinson Cano and Jean Segura.

Do you clear a week to head out to Arizona every March? Is spring training your favorite part of the year?

It was swallowed up by the afterglow of Ichiro’s emotional departure, but there was another memorable heartstring-tugging moment in the eighth inning of the Mariners’ Tokyo finale.

Seattle Mariners pitcher Yusei Kikuchi is well aware his first season in the majors will be subject to additional scrutiny. Kikuchi’s rookie season is essentially an experiment, an attempt to see whether pitchers coming to the major leagues from Asia should be handled differently in their first season. The Mariners will regulate Kikuchi’s innings during the season while making sure he starts on a regular five-day rotation.

If there were any justice in the world, Ichiro would have beaten out the slow roller to shortstop in the eighth inning of Thursday’s game against the Oakland A’s in Tokyo, as he did so many times.

Ichiro Suzuki showered with cheers and chants while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades.

If the whole point of the Mariners participating in the Japan opener was to celebrate Ichiro, that point was unfortunately lost in a 16-hour time difference while most M’s fans were sleeping.

Whether they stayed up into the early-morning hours to watch or decided to catch the highlights, Marco Gonzales’ former coaches at Gonzaga saw a familiar scene when the southpaw took the mound Wednesday at Japan’s Tokyo Dome.

At about 1 p.m., the Tokyo Dome’s outside concourse was abuzz with baseball fans avoiding their jobs and responsibility – an opening-day tradition that can be found even in Japan’s work-first culture.