Ichiro may not be M’s leadoff hitter

Baseball: Ichiro Suzuki might begin his final guaranteed season with the Seattle Mariners somewhere other than the leadoff spot that he’s locked down for the past decade.

Seattle manager Eric Wedge said Thursday during the Mariners’ pre-spring training luncheon that he’s leaning toward moving Ichiro out of the leadoff spot as a way to try to bolster the Mariners’ anemic offense.

Wedge doesn’t believe that’s a slight on Ichiro’s ability to continue being a leadoff hitter, even with the 10-time All-Star coming off the worst season of his career.

“It’s as much to do with his teammates as it has to do with him with regard to the collective nine that we’re putting down on paper,” Wedge said. “I haven’t made any firm decisions. I made it very clear over the winter I was thinking about it. I’m even further down the road to where I’m leaning in that direction to have (Ichiro) hit somewhere else.”

Moving Ichiro out of the leadoff spot was part of an on-again, off-again debate during the 2011 season as he struggled. He hit just .272, failed to reach 200 hits for the first time in his career – finishing with 184 – and had an on-base percentage 40 points less than his previous career worst.

If Wedge makes the change, he said he was considering Dustin Ackley, Franklin Gutierrez and Chone Figgins as possible replacements in the leadoff role.

Associated Press

Kitna returns to Lincoln as coach

Football: Jon Kitna has become the new football coach at Lincoln High in Tacoma after retiring from a 15-year NFL career.

Kitna was recently hired at his old high school as a math teacher. Kitna received his math education degree at Central Washington University, where he was a standout quarterback and led the Wildcats to a share of the 1995 NAIA national title. Kitna went on to an NFL career with Seattle, Cincinnati, Detroit and wrapped up his career as a backup for Dallas.

Associated Press

GSL divisions? Vote in our poll

Would you like to see the Greater Spokane League divided into two divisions – five 4A teams and five 3A teams? Or would you prefer the current system remain, mixing the two classifications in one league?

Vote in our poll at tinyurl.com/gslvote