The news came out Tuesday that Ichiro is going to bat third in the lineup this season for the Mariners and that's caused a pretty big stir among Seattle fans. Ichiro is anything but your typical 3-hole hitter but Larry Stone pointed out something on Twitter that may put you at ease, at least a little bit.

Something I did not know: In 7 full seasons in Japan, Ichiro had more games hitting 3rd than 1st. And he won batting titles all 7 years.

— Larry Stone (@StoneLarry) February 22, 2012

While baseball in Japan and in the Majors are very different, I do think it's meaningful from a mental standpoint that he's batted in that spot before. Quite a bit, actually.