Ichiro Suzuki

We are just a few days away from the All-Star break for the 2011 MLB season.

We've already seen some spectacular performances in the first half from expected names and some newcomers alike.

Like last season, baseball has been largely dominated by incredible pitching performances. Pitchers are going deeper into games than they have in recent memory and leaving most hitters in the dust.

There have been a few exceptions however.

With that in mind, here are the best (and just for fun, the worst) in the AL and NL this season

Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki has taken the career path far less traveled, and that has led to uncertainty regarding just how good he really is.

While most prominent stars crack major league lineups in their early 20s after going through the minors, Ichiro cracked the Mariners lineup at age 27 after establishing his game in Japan.

When Mariners GM Jack Zduriencik asked the Seattle fans to be patient with the rebuilding process, I decided to comply with his request. I vowed to sit back and wait to see if the Mariners showed any progress with hopes that things would be different this season.

When Seattle started out 2-0 I was optimistic the ball club was on the right path. Since then the Mariners are 2-10 and still can't score any runs. Same old story.

If only the Seattle Mariners offense could actually show up before they found themselves hopelessly behind—such has been the underlying theme of the Mariners’ 2011 campaign. And Friday night was a microcosm of that very issue, too little too late.

We've all seen it: the signature move.  Many great baseball players have displayed them time and time again throughout their careers, and through them they make the game look easy.

There are the great moves, and then there are the weird ones, which baseball fans of all generations have seen as well.

Here's a list of the best, and strangest signature moves from players in the game today, as well as a few from the annals of history.

With the team headed to Safeco Field for the home opener against the Cleveland Indians Friday, hopes and expectations were high.

Sure, the M’s had won just two of their first six games. Sure, they had gone into Arlington and gotten their behinds handed to them by the Rangers.

But it was Opening Night, and somehow all was momentarily forgotten. Ichiro and King Felix were set to receive their awards in front of a sold-out crowd.

Solid pitching and waiting for the A’s to implode—such has been the formula for success for the Mariners in their first two games this season.

The first part of that equation was Jason Vargas’ impeccable performance on the mound Saturday night that kept the M’s in the game. Showing impressive command of his pitches, Vargas nearly rivaled King Felix’s gem Friday night. He mixed his different pitches with success and kept the A’s off balance all night.

Entering the 2011 season, the Oakland Athletics bullpen was projected to be one of the deepest and most solid relief cores in baseball. After the first two games of the season, the bullpen looks anything but what was projected.

Saturday night the Mariners roughed up the Oakland bullpen for the second night in a row to give the A's an 0-2 start for only the second time in their past 12 seasons.

Solid pitching and waiting for the A’s to implode—such has been the formula for success for the Mariners in their first two games this season.

The first part of that equation was Jason Vargas’ impeccable performance on the mound Saturday night that kept the M’s in the game. Showing impressive command of his pitches, Vargas nearly rivaled King Felix’s gem Friday night. He mixed his different pitches with success and kept the A’s off balance all night.

Saturday night, Ichiro Suzuki connected on a pitch from Oakland reliever Brian Fuentes to surpass Edgar Martinez for the Seattle Mariners' franchise lead in total hits (2,248).

It's no surprise; throughout Ichiro's career, he has been a record-setter for the Mariners.