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.