Mariners Greatest Hits: The “Wizard” Right Fielder Ichiro

April 6th, 2001

With a swing as unique to baseball as the man himself, Ichiro, was by no means a professional rookie coming into his 2001 MLB inaugural season. He didn’t play like one either.

In just his fourth game as an American major leaguer, he was playing like a seasoned veteran.

Ichiro was the lead off hitter versus the power-hitting Texas Rangers. Right away he showed he had some pop too, blasting a screeching double to left. He would score on the next Mariners at-bat when Mark McLemore smashed a high-flying ball to right-center field.

In the next frame, Ichiro would get his next shot to make a difference, and he did, singling to left field. Then, at least for a bit, Ichiro would be cooled down by Texas’s pitching, grounding out in the 3rd and flying out to left.

In the 8th Ichiro would regain his stroke and would smack a seeing eye single on the left side of the infield. Each hit was becoming increasingly more important as the game was looking as if it was going to be a close finish.

After the Rangers tied the ballgame in the 8th, the game remained knotted up until the 10th. That’s when Ichiro provided his biggest contribution thus far.

With a runner at first, Ichiro took advantage of the first pitch he saw and belted it into the stands. It was his first major league home run. It also totaled the amount of power put on display by the Rangers dynamic duo, Ivan Rodriguez, and Raffael Palmeiro who combined for one long bomb that day.

Most importantly, it put the Mariners in front for good. They would win the game -thanks to Ichiro- 9-7 in an early-season thriller.

The Japanese wonder would go on to collect a hit in 13 more games after this matchup, another sign that he would be a great hitter for years to come. In 2001, Ichiro would have two more long hit streaks including his longest of 25 consecutive games with a base knock.

Five days after this game, Ichiro would showcase his defensive prowess, throwing out Terrence Long at third base for his first of many highlight reel plays in a Mariners uniform.

October 1st, 2004

A few years after his initial hitting showcase, Ichiro had proven himself as one of the best hitters in the game. After his rookie campaign in which he led the league with 242 hits, he followed that up by having two more years with at least 200 hits.

It was his 2004 year that would put him in the history books.

In a season in which he had 34 games in which he notched three or more hits up to this point in the season -he reached four hits six times and five hits four times- it was no surprise that Ichiro was aiming for George Sisler’s single season hit record of 257 hits set back in 1920.

In his third to last game of the year, Ichiro came in one knock behind the Deadball era batsman. In his first attempt of the night against the Texas Rangers, he tied the hall of famer with a Baltimore chop over the third baseman’s outstretched glove.

He made quick business of taking the record for himself as he scorched a shot right back through the middle of the infield for immortal history.

He would go on to have one more hit that game, but it could never have lived up to the incredible moment.

That was the beauty if Ichiro’s game. He wasn’t hitting the ball in the way that Ruth, Aaron or Griffey would he was just so good putting the ball, as they would say, “where they ain’t”.

Finishing the year with 262 hits -which is still a record today- he would complete his fourth season in a row with 200+ hits. As many already know, he still holds the record for more consecutive seasons with 200+ hits with 10 in a row.

July 20th, 2004

This wouldn’t be a “best of” Ichiro slideshow if we didn’t include a game where he showed off his lightning quick speed.

Over his career, Ichiro has been one of the fastest men in all of baseball. Since he entered the league in 2001, he has amassed 508 base thefts and will likely surpass Barry Bonds who has 514 steals for 20th most all-time.

Ichiro ranks better than any other Mariners player with 438 thefts in large part because of games like this middle July battle versus the Boston Red Sox.

He began the day with a single to put him on first. He then went on to steal second on the fourth pitch from Red Sox pitcher, Derek Lowe.

In the 3rd, despite his success the first time around, Ichiro decided not to steal second even though he had reached first via a base knock.

The next frame, after Lowe had given Ichiro a free pass, the speedster was on the move again, snagging his second base of the day on his third time on the base paths.

Two innings later, Ichiro would end up on first once again, and you guessed it, he would be on the move, successfully reaching second on a steal for the third time in the game.

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After a groundout in the 7th -this was the only time Ichiro didn’t reach base- he would have one more chance to record his fourth steal of the night. It would set the team record if he could do it.

Wouldn’t you know it, after recording his fourth hit of the game and reaching base for the fifth time of the contest, Ichiro mustered enough energy in the bottom of the ninth and rushed to second for that elusive fourth theft of the game.

He is still the only Mariners player to record four steals in a game. In fact, he did it a second time in 2010. Unfortunately for him, both four-steal games would come in Mariners losses despite Ichiro’s fleet-footed efforts.

Only 21 men in baseball history have recorded more steals in a game. That list includes all-time base-stealing greats like Ricky Henderson and Kenny Lofton and modern day quick-men Billy Hamilton and Carl Crawford.

Next: Mariners All-Time Best Right Fielder

That’s our list. Did you agree or disagree with what we chose? Maybe you feel we should’ve added the moment when Ichiro hit a walk-off homer versus the Yankees, Mariano Rivera. Let us know in the comments section below or on Twitter at SodoMojoFS.

On Wednesday we will be announcing our all-time greatest center fielder. You might be able to guess who we voted for.