Thank You, Ichiro

The voice of Dave Niehaus echos throughout the house. A young boy sits with his parents on the edge of his seat during mid-fall Mariners game between the Rangers and the Mariners. The Rangers held a 2-0 lead. Such had been the season for the Mariners, who finished 2004 with a 63-99 record.  DH Edgar Martinez farewell tour had been overshadowed by the arrival of history.

Ichiro steps into the box tied with George Sisler for the most hits in a single season with 257.  “ICH-I-RO, ICH-I-RO”. The chants drowned out the sound of the broadcast team. In sync with the Mariners right fielder, the boy stood in front of the TV, right arm stretched out to the wall and a slight tug at his right sleeve. Rangers right-hander Ryan Drese came set. The 3-2 pitch was on its way.

Ichiro was and has always been an icon. Not just in Japan, not just in Seattle, but for the world. For the history of baseball. For every single fan. Everyone knows who Ichiro is. He may be the single best hitter in a generation of incredibly talented players including Barry Bonds, Tony Gwynn, and Ken Griffey Jr. He gave more to the game than just the hits record. In an era where steroid-induced home runs ruled the day, Ichiro did it with slap hits the other day. He did it with speed. He did it with incredible defense and an arm that could throw out even the fastest of runners.

Even before his eventual ROY and MVP, Ichiro was making a name for himself. Who could forget when he arrived in Spring Training with an oversized pair of pants. It was his own style. Making a catch over his back? That’s Ichiro. He was just the coolest player there was at that time, even with Griffey around for a few years.

As a 27-year-old rookie, Ichiro hit .350 with a .381 OBP and 56 stolen bases. He was a catalyst at the top of the Mariners lineup that set the record for the most wins in modern history. He went on to 10 straight All-Star Games, 10 Gold Gloves and encapsulated an entire nation. His methodical way of going about his work was mesmerizing. Constantly stretching, repeating his motions and remaining one of the most consistent hitters over the course of 10 years.

So, Ichiro was good at baseball. But what makes him so special compared to other greats? Well, just in Seattle, Ichiro helped bring the entire Mariners fanbase together during the down years, which have pretty much been all of them since his arrival in the United States.

Watching Chone Figgins play what he thought was the game of baseball was made so much less painful due to the fact that we got to see a living legend in the lineup with him. In my opinion, there are a few years over Ichiro’s tenure in Seattle that would have become nearly unwatchable had he not been a staple of the lineup.

He represented hope even when nothing else could. He was there for the Edgar and Griffey era. Ichiro was there when a 19-year old Felix made his debut. He is here now during the rise of James Paxton. He is here for the Nelson Cruz and Robinson Cano era. Ichiro transcends time when it comes to the history of the Mariners.

Few players have been as influential in baseball history, let alone Mariners history, as Ichiro Suzuki. The Seattle Mariners have been incredibly fortunate to have both Ken Griffey Jr. and Ichiro put on a Mariners uniform. Around baseball today, hundreds of players, when asked who their favorite player was growing up, will respond with Griffey.

As younger players continue to enter the game, many of them will have watched Ichiro every day growing up and their answer will be him. They were bigger than baseball. So often, the Mariners have been forgotten about. Their players are often underrated due to their location compared to other teams as well as their team’s performance.

Only a few other players other than Ichiro are nationally recognized as the great players that they truly were/are. Those players being Griffey, Edgar, and possibly even Felix when its all said and done.

Those players are the pillars of the Seattle Mariners franchise. But Ichiro’s pillar may stand the tallest. He is nearly a god in Japan, left among the lore of the legends of the country. The amount of Japanese media that followed Ichiro around every single game was incredible. Today, we see similarities with the Angels two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani.

Go back and watch any game from Ichiro’s heyday in Seattle and you will see more signs and jerseys for him than any other player. Also, a quick shoutout to season ticket holder Amy Franz, also known as the “Ichi-meter lady”, who created the iconic sign that keeps track of Ichiro’s hit totals in both the MLB along with his time in Japan.

No other player has had that kind of effect on an entire fan base. For the Mariners, the signing of Ichiro not only helped them on the field but also off of it. His presence helped put butts in the seats at Safeco Field and also created a legion of fans over in Japan. Mariners games were televised in Japan so that Ichiro’s fans could follow the legends journey in America.

His presence created a culture in Seattle that had never been seen before. Every kid had an Ichiro shirsey or poster in their room. In fact, I still have an Ichiro poster hanging on my wall as well as various different books describing Ichiro’s career.

A player like Ichiro is Rob Manfred’s dream because he made the younger generations fall in love with the game. He got people watching baseball every night, just to see Ichiro. Ichiro was everything baseball needed.

He was and still is great for baseball.  He was a part of many incredible moments in baseball history, and rightfully so, as he is easily one of the most dedicated players to ever play baseball. The breaking of the hits record. The inside the park home run at the All-Star game. The catch while hanging on the wall. The throw out of Star Wars. His walk-off against Mariano Rivera. His triple at Coors Field for hit number 3,000. There are so many great moments in Ichiro’s career and now we have reached the twilight.

Ichiro is just as amazing of a person as he is a player. Jerry Dipoto has talked about his presence in the clubhouse as being one of his biggest attributes. After he broke George Sisler’s hit record, he went over to Sisler’s daughter, who was in attendance, and thanked her and talked with her. During the game. He has always been kind and grateful for his opportunity.

If this is it, if this is truly the end of Ichiro’s career, I am absolutely honored to have seen it. He was the best player in baseball when I was growing up. I still get chills watching him play. The Ichiro chants when he returned on Opening Day made my eyes misty.

I was there when he hit his home run with the Marlins last year in what was thought to be his final at-bat at Safeco. I was there when he robbed a home run in left earlier this year. He was my favorite player. He helped me develop a love for baseball that otherwise may not have been there.

So if this is really it, then I am eternally grateful to the man who made it all possible. The entire world is grateful for you, Ichiro, for becoming more than just a baseball player, but a national icon on an international scale. I owe a lot to Ichiro, and one day I hope that I can meet him and tell him just how much he meant to me as a kid. I wish I knew then what I do now so I could truly appreciate what I was seeing day in and day out.

Alas, that is not the case. Now, all I can do is look back in awe at the pure magic that took place on a baseball field and all I can do now is say thank you. Thank you, Ichiro. Thank you for the 13 years of joy. Thanks for all the base hits. Thank you for the amazing catches. Thank you. For Everything.

Next: Ichiro's Best Moment: The Throw

“And a groundball back up the middle and there it is! He’s the new all-time Hit King in Major League history, number 2-5-8, My Oh My!”