It's been a long, strange year for Seattle Mariners second
baseman/outfielder Dustin Ackley  Perhaps more than any other
Mariner this season (and arguably last), Ackley has left fans in
the Pacific Northwest wondering what exactly to make of himand
by extension the Mariners.  For those of you who may have lost
track of Ackley after his promising debut two summers earlier
and his sophomore slump last year, allow me to summarize his
performance this season by the month:  April was rough after
what had been a decent spring training.  May was so brutal that
he was demoted and replaced at second base.  In June, he
rebounded at Triple-A Tacoma and returned to Seattle by the end
of the month.  In July, he really didn't distinguish himself at
the plate or on the field.  Then suddenly in August, Ackley
became an animal, both literally and figuratively.   Growing out
a beard more reminiscent of a man in quest of the Stanley Cup
than a baseball player, "Wolfman Ack" slowly but surely put
together an impressive month, pe