Mariners Greatest Hits: The “Wizard” Right Fielder Ichiro

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.