Ichiro finally has a batting average

You can breathe easy now, Mariners fans.

Ichiro managed to get that elusive first hit of spring, ending an 0-for-21 drought. In typical Ichiro fashion, the ice breaker was a slow grounder to second base that he narrowly beat out at first.

Ichiro is now batting a skimpy .040 for the spring, but at least it's not .000. Then again, when you're a perennial All-Star and international icon, you aren't exactly concerned about being demoted to AAA Tacoma.

And you know what? He's not.

"I'm not sure what my next challenge is," Ichiro said. "Today, my feeling is kind of sad. It's sad to say goodbye [to the hitless streak]. Part of me wishes it would have gone on a little longer."

Ichiro has never exactly been a media darling, but it's nice to see that he at least has a sense of humor about things. Perhaps new teammate Erik Bedard should take note.

Mike Cameron seeks MLB's permission to cheat

Mike Cameron may have finally found a loophole in the rules against performance enhancing drug use, albeit a little late.

A note from the doctor.

Cameron, who failed a test for banned stimulants in the offseason, will be serving a 25-game suspension to start the season because it was his second failed test. But when he returns, Cameron may have a leg up on the rest of the league.

That's because Cameron has an appointment with a neurologist to see if he will recommend -- prescribe, if you will -- amphetamines as a treatment for the supposed cobwebs in his head. Cameron is hoping the doctor and the league will remember with sympathy his nasty collision with Carlos Beltran in 2005 (see below for a link to the video clip).

If Major League Baseball OK'd stimulant use by Cameron for medical purposes, they'd be starting down a slippery slope. Remember all those guys who had so-called prescriptions for HGH? I think the league knows better than to give Cameron the green light, but you can't fault the man for trying.

Video clip of the nasty outfield collision between Cameron and Beltran (MLB.com)

Birthday time! Celebrating one year as a blogger

There comes a time in every blogger's life where it's appropriate to reflect on where you've come from, and map out where you hope to be going. And what better of a time than All on the Field's first birthday, a milestone many Weblogs never achieve?

Looking Back
It's been a year since my initial post about how ridiculous it was that the NBA was fining Kobe Bryant for his violent, flailing follow-throughs. It wasn't the best post I've written, but it was a decent start. Two hundred fifty (250) posts later, this baby is still chugging. A few highlights along the way:

• My fourth post was a little number about my favorite sports cliches, including "we left it all on the field." Hence the title of the blog.
  
  
• The most viewed post was one about Dan Marino's cell phone going off on set a CBS, an entry that attracted something like 6,000 views in one day thanks to a link from Will at Deadspin.
  
  
• And the most commented-on post -- as well as the one generating the most hits from Google search results -- is the debate on whether cheerleading is a sport. To reiterate to all of those passionate cheerleaders who have argued about how hard cheerleading is, that doesn't make it a sport.
  
  
• The Separated at Birth series has also generated a lot of feedback, most of it more positive than comments on the cheerleading post.
  
  
• One of the most enjoyable entries was the interview I conducted with Jim Bouton, author of the classic Ball Four. Bouton was nice enough to accommodate a hacking blogger for a 10-15 minute interview over the telephone, and there was a lot of insight in what he said. Email interviews with former Yankee Scott Brosius and Steroid Nation author Gary Gaffney were fun, too.

Looking forward

Just about everyone wants to be better at what they do, whether it be work or play. Since I earn a few bucks blogging, I consider it a mix of the two, though it leans heavily toward the play. That being said here are a few hopes and dreams I have for this blog in the coming year:

• More interviews. I've gotten a lot of good feedback on the three that I've done, and while they require a lot more legwork than banging out 250 words about what a sourpuss Kobe Bryant is, there is a much higher degree of originality with an interview.
  
  
• Greater interaction with commenters and other bloggers. Truth be told, I've been a bit disappointed at times at the lack of commenting on this blog. It may have something to do with the fact that I post just once a day, 4-5 times a week. But I'd still like to think that we can get some good conversations going here, and I would hope to be an active participant.
  
  
• Further developing my blogging "style." There are all sorts of different types of bloggers out there. You've got the ones who take shots at the media, those who post short little blurbs many times a day apparently in hopes of attracting Google searchers, and those who tackle the hottest topics that everyone is talking about. I like to think of All on the Field as a niche blogger, kind of similar to Lion in Oil. But I don't want to be limited to that either, and it's important to be my own blogger.
  
  
• And, of course, more great content.

If you have any suggestions for ways to improve All on the Field, I'd welcome them. To those of you who visit regularly or periodically, thanks for reading. And to first time or infrequent visitors, you're welcome back here anytime.

Separated at Birth: Travis Hafner & Javier Bardem

If Travis Hafner (left) had hair and/or smiled, my suspicion is he'd look even more like Javier Bardem, Academy Award-winning star of No Country for Old Men, which I have yet to see.

Hafner struggled for the Indians last year, despite career highs of 152 games and 545 ABs. He hit .266 with 24 HR and 100 RBI, which was disappointing, considering I trade for him in my fantasy league early on.

Which brings us to the million dollar question: would you draft, or have you already drafted, Hafner for the 2008 fantasy season?

Romeo's big name makes up for Lil' game

Romeo Miller, the rapper who goes by Lil' Romeo, figures to be a bench warmer at USC next season, but that hasn't stopped the university from offering him a full-ride scholarship.

To be fair, "offer" might be the wrong word.

According to Trojans' coach Tim Floyd, Lil' Romeo was part of a package deal with blue chip prospect Demar DeRozan, a 6'6" forward out of Compton scoring 29.2 points per game on an astronomical shooting percentage. Scout.com has DeRozan rated as the #5 prospect in the country.

Miller, by contrast, averaged 8.6 points in just eight games before sitting out the rest of the season with a knee injury. Miller and his father, Percy -- rapper Master P -- became acquainted with DeRozan through a club team several years ago, and have taken him like an extra member of the family.

So when Percy called Floyd last spring, inquiring if Floyd would like to have Romeo and DeRozan play at USC, it was clear that Percy was talking about a 2-for-1 special. And with a player of DeRozan's caliber ready to commit to his program, Floyd was more than willing to sacrifice an extra scholarship.

Besides, Floyd reasoned, Romeo's star power just might bring extra fans to the arena.

The Millers don't see Romeo's scholarship as a compromise to lure DeRozan or a marketing ploy. They say Romeo had scholarship offers from LSU and Arizona State, and that Cal and Florida State had expressed interest as well. Not really true, say staff members at each school.

If basketball doesn't work out for Romeo, he's fortunate enough to have a backup plan; the rap star will study film, and who knows, maybe he'll have time to crank out a new album in the offseason. "Basketball is just one-half of what I'll be doing," Romeo said.

For more, check out A Hot Prospect? at the Wall Street Journal.