Forget about the American League Rookie of the Year Award. Ichiro Suzuki bagged that puppy back in May with a 23-game hitting streak. The million-dollar question is: Who will win the AL MVP Award? Ichiro has a shot at becoming the first rookie since Fred Lynn in 1975 to garner the honor.

The Mariners' right fielder undoubtedly has the credentials. He led the AL in batting (.350) and steals (56), scored 127 runs and had more hits (242) than anyone in 71 years. By the All-Star break, he arguably had become baseball's most popular player.

Ichiro, however, plays on the same team as Bret Boone. Out of nowhere, Boone had a whale of a regular season. He batted .331 with 37 homers and an AL-leading 141 RBIs. While Ichiro was Seattle's sparkplug this season, Boone was its engine.

So which Mariner should be preparing his acceptance speech? M's skipper Lou Piniella earlier this season expressed his wish that the pair share the award. That sounds like a sweet idea but -- outside of Japan -- who likes ties in baseball? Plus, a tie would be a statistical improbability; it has happened once since 1911. When you look carefully at the stats, the choice becomes obvious. Your winner is: Oakland Athletics first baseman Jason Giambi.

Without Giambi, the A's simply would not have won 102 games and the AL wild card. He carried that team down the stretch with a .342 average, 38 homers, 120 RBIs, 109 runs and a league-leading .660 slugging percentage. Without either Boone or Ichiro, the Mariners still win about 95 games this season and make the playoffs. The Ichiro-Boone relationship was symbiotic. Ichiro often relied on Boone's bat to score runs, and Boone had Ichiro to knock in. Giambi, however, didn't have much of a supporting cast until the team traded for Jermaine Dye in July. In fact, he was the only player on the A's to hit over .288 this season. After the All-Star break -- when it counted most -- his numbers at the plate improved dramatically and the A's outplayed the Mariners.

Remember, the award goes not to the best player in the league -- that would be Ichiro, in my opinion -- but to the player who has helped his team the most. If the Baseball Writers Association of America keeps this in mind, Giambi will win his second consecutive MVP Award next month.

Unfortunately this is an odd year, which means that the major league All-Stars won't be coming here to play their Japanese counterparts. Don't know about you, but I can't wait that long. Why isn't the tour held on a yearly basis?

Interest in Japanese players among major league clubs and the bond between the two baseball worlds are at an all-time high. It's high time the powers that be respond in kind and alter the tour's format.

Not only should the tour be held annually, but it should rotate between the U.S. and Japan each year. This would allow Japanese stars to play in, let's say, Seattle and the Big Apple. With the proper marketing, sponsors would line up in a New York minute to put their fingers in that pie.

At the moment, many people in North America still don't know much about Hideki Matsui and Co. They didn't know anything about Ichiro and Mets outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo until they suddenly appeared after years of playing in obscurity (also known in the majors as Japan). A Japanese tour of the U.S. would open people's eyes and provide for great theater.

When Tuffy Rhodes was chasing Sadaharu Oh's single-season record of 55 homers this season, images of the 1985 home run race came flooding back. At the end of that season, the Oh-managed Yomiuri Giants repeatedly intentionally walked Randy Bass to secure the record. Bass ended the year with 54 homers.

Ever wonder what Bass is up to these days? Here's the scoop: He's living in Oklahoma and just got married last month. He isn't involved in baseball at any level but that will change very soon.

Next month Bass will be back in Japan. The former Hanshin Tiger, who has returned to Japan numerous times over the years, will join the Osaka Romans in the inaugural season of the Masters League. The old-timers league will have teams in Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo, Fukuoka and Nagoya. The 40-game season starts Nov. 1 and ends Jan. 23. All games will be aired by SKY PerfecTV! Unfortunately, the league has XFL written all over it. The team names are odd (did the Romans ever conquer Osaka?) and the uniforms are reportedly hideous. It's doomed to fail for the same reason the XFL flopped: no fan interest. The list of former players participating is very impressive. There are members of Japan's 2,000-hit and 200-win clubs. But many of the players are well into their 50s. Can you say, "Groin-pull on the way to first base"?

Even the "younger" players, like the 47-year-old Bass, haven't played competitively in years. Bass keeps himself in good shape but still has a bad back. Free passes to first base didn't sound so good to him in 1985, but he might be happy to see them in 2001. Let's hope the guys don't embarrass themselves, and have good health insurance.

The Japan Series isn't over yet and fall training is already under way in Japan. What ever happened to the offseason? There's a lot I'd change if I were commissioner for a day: scrapping tie games, inter-league play and expansion would be at the top of my list. But the first thing I'd do is reinstate the offseason. Heck, even the NHL takes a break for a few months each year.

Daisuke Matsuzaka won the Sawamatsu Award this week as Japan's best starting pitcher. Where was Matsuzaka when he heard the news? He was stuck in training camp, where the Seibu Lions are preparing for their season opener . . . in April. Somewhere Ichiro and Shinjo are laughing.