The AL went on to win 4-1. just drops and shakes his head, Ichiro was the only one in the video not surprised by that throw, It was going to take a perfect throw to get me. Ichiro is the first member added since 2015, and he joined an exclusive group that includes nine other members (in order of induction): Alvin Davis, Dave Niehaus, Jay Buhner, Edgar Martinez, Randy Johnson, Dan Wilson, Ken Griffey Jr., Lou Piniella and Jamie Moyer, with all in attendance except Johnson and Piniella. Walk-off homers were a rarity off the Yankees legend. During one season, Colborn remembers Ichiro swinging just 11 times over a four-game series, and barreling the ball on every swing. Honestly, I was scared. He was a goddamn special player to watch in his prime, and he was one of the few bright spots when the Mariners churned out forgettable team after . They didnt care [about the team]. Throughout Tokyo, screens outside subway stations lit up with MLB highlights and live coverage of Mariners games sometimes starting at 4 a.m. in Japan, with people camped outside to watch. When I started facing him, one of the differences was the way he made our infielders rush, former As pitcher Mark Mulder says. Ichiro, whose arm could throw lasers "like something out of 'Star Wars,'" as late Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus famously said, retires as the active leader in outfield assists (123). But hes never wanted to be an imposing figure. The American League, originally founded in 1901, consists of the following teams: Baltimore Orioles; Boston Red Sox; Chicago White Sox; Cleveland Indians; Detroit Tigers; Houston Astros; Kansas City Royals; Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim; Minnesota Twins; New York Yankees; Oakland Athletics; Seattle Mariners; Tampa Bay Rays; Texas Rangers; and Toronto Blue Jays. Niehaus was one of the greats. Drayer: 10 months of preparation led up to Ichiros last two games, Ichiro came off the field one final time as a Seattle Mariners player on Thursday. As the teams time in Peoria, Arizona, wound down, Piniella wanted proof that his potential leadoff hitter could pull the baseball. Mike Trout What sets Mariners OF Kyle Lewis apart from other prospects. Seattle Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus, who passes away Wednesday, poses at the old Yankee Stadium before Game 2 of the American League Championship Series in Oct. 2000. Over the first half of his rookie season, Ichiro changed more than just defensive alignments around the league. We thought we had a leadoff hitter, we thought we had a guy that could play right field, so we just went after it, Gillick says. When the Miami Marlins made a rare trip to Seattle for a series in 2017, many wondered if it would be the last time Ichiro played at Safeco Field. Ichiro charged the ball, fielded it, and transferred it to his throwing hand as Long rounded second and ran toward third. It also helped that the Mariners and Orix had a working agreement in which Seattle shared commercial and marketing ideas in exchange for info about NPB players. Paraphrasing the writer in his 2021 book Tokyo Junkie, Whiting explains this stemmed from an inability to prevail in international sports events, save for the odd marathon or judo triumph. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. In honor of one of the most exciting players to ever grace Major League Baseball, our team at Inside the Mariners put together a list of their favorite Ichiro moments. SEATTLE (AP) Ichiro Suzuki's otherworldly talents made an early impression on Dave Niehaus, the Hall of Fame voice of the Seattle Mariners. 4/11/01: Ichiro Suzuki nails Terrence Long trying to go first-to-third on a single to right field. Yet the idea of playing again is another maybe final challenge for Suzuki. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. And so that's why I feel good about not playing.. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. Yet his influence and importance shouldn't be understated. New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, The subreddit for the bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players. Hes baseballs all-time hit king, was named to 10 straight American League All-Star teams, and is one of only two players ever to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season. And would anyone be surprised if he was on the field once more? From the beginning: Hired to be the Mariners' play-by-play voice for their first season in 1977, Niehaus witnessed 5,284 of the team's 5,385 games. Whiting says this stance initially got him in a lot of trouble with minor league manager Shozo Doi, who opposed Ichiros leg kick and kept him on the farm team for the 1992 Orix BlueWave. So embrace it by giving your best without imposing limits on yourself. Inside the Tokyo Dome as a Mariners employee, Id be the only scout there, he says. I saw this angle 20 years ago and have been looking for it ever since. He has been the Mariners' voice for their entirety, from Diego Segui's first pitch in the franchise's inaugural game in 1977 to Ichiro's fly out to end the . That was pretty crazy., Throughout the summer, the Mariners also took advantage of their geographic location, catering to Japanese fans with weekend ticket packages and accommodations. He charged the ball and he threw a bullet to home plate and I did a double take. Then Ichiro unleashed what would be dubbed The Throw, a laser beam that met David Bells glove knee-high and allowed the third baseman to gently apply a tag for the out. These Japanese athletes had taken the Japanese sports inferiority complexthe sense that the Japanese are not physically or experientially ready for world competitionand proved it wrong. Masijuma added, I believe that these athletes are not just about athletic talent. He comes back to the dugout, getting ready to walk down the steps to take his helmet off, and he says, Is that turn on ball, Lou? McLaren says. An airport hot dog? he asked Ichiros interpreter. Enfranchised in 1977, the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League.Safeco Field, now T-Mobile Park has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July 1999.From their 1977 inception until June 1999, the club's home park was the Kingdome. Id never faced a guy who was a better bad ball hitter., The torrid start only made Ichiros spotlight brighter, especially in Japan. Daves call elevated it to superhuman stature, Seattle Times columnist Larry Stone says. The tourist industry experienced this huge boom because people would fly there and stay in a hotel and take in two or three Mariners games and then come back. Much like David Bells reaction when he caught Ichiros original Star Wars throw, the look on current Mariners third baseman Ryon Healys face tells the story. "I want to be like a researcher or a student of the game. It read, "Dave Niehaus, 1935-2010." His empty chair and headpones sat in the broadcast booth . That ball could have gone through David Bell another 10 to 15 feet. Dave "The Groz" Grosby was honored by the Mariners on Tuesday night by throwing out the ceremonial first pitch. Seattles franchise icon was beginning a 16-minute speech -- which he gave in English -- in conjunction with being enshrined in the Mariners Hall of Fame. Even after Hideo Nomo broke international barriers and found success with the Dodgers in 1995, only a few MLB teams had scouts on the ground in Japan. Ken Levine is a screenwriter and broadcaster, and he worked for many years on Mariners' games alongside the late Dave Niehaus, who died of a heart attack in 2010. Ichiro just defies what most athletes are capable of. I was treated like some kind of guest royalty. I think Japans athletes can inspire such hope in the Japanese people, Masujima wrote. Watch: Ichiro finds old-time religion with HR-robbing catch. I'm not sure he threw that ball at an upward angle. Most days, I still wear the Mariners uniform, and I do so proudly, Ichiro said. "The Throw," one of Ichiro's signature moments in his Major League . I believe that they represent a new way of thinking, a new philosophy that has arisen within Japanese society, and that this new philosophy will have a tremendous influence., As Whiting notes, because Ichiro played every day, he became daily national news, a sort of baseball emissary beating up American pitchers. same result as his first game as a member of the Mariners, Groz Remembers: Ichiros Star Wars throw in 2001. And it was a perfect throw. --Terrence Long, The ball was hit right to me. Flix Hernndez will be inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in August, the club announced Wednesday. "Just see what happens. Piniella: Ive seen some pretty good arms. When I returned in 2018, it was as if I never left. So it was a mutual thing., The Cubs ultimately won negotiating rights for Fukudome, and the outfielder signed a four-year, $48 million contract. The manager gave me a big wet kiss. It's grand sa-lami time! Does anyone know what exactly the broadcaster says here? "And I've been doing this my entire adult life, been in the game close to 30 years and met and played with and against every great in my lifetime really and never met one quite like Ichiro.". that is the most lazer-like throw i've ever seen. "He's the most committed player that I've ever had," Melvin recalled. Ichiro walks off into history in sayonara at Tokyo Dome. Seahawks running back Chris Carson is struggling with fumbles, and it's imperative he corrects the issue, says Jake Heaps. The Mariners and Athletics were locked in a scoreless affair until the eighth inning, when Ichiro led off with a pinch-hit single to left field, sparking a three-run rally. He had a cannon of an arm, could swipe bases like a ninja, and could put just about any pitch in play, regardless of how crappy it was. Five highlights of Dave Niehaus' career with the Mariners. He also thanked Mariners ownership for the opportunity to contribute as a special advisor in his post-playing days. Less than a decade after hed left Japan, he noticed a dramatic difference. Sitting on the horizon is Seattle's season-opening series in Tokyo next season, and the possibility for Suzuki to shine again in his home country. Here is the top fun points seasons since the introduction of division play and the lowering of the mound in 1969: Fun Points per PA*, 1969-2022, 502 PA per . Retirement wasn't the 'R' word used Thursday for the how and why of Suzuki moving off the field. 2023 Bonneville International. "If this team is going to go to the playoffs, they have to have Chris Carson running the football.". Who cares if your glove is clean? **, Press J to jump to the feed. "I recorded [the 2001 All-Star Game] on VHS and watched it at least six or seven times as a kid, so Ichiro leading off by beating Randy to the bag stands out to me a lot," Ty said. Yet after narrowly escaping Cleveland in the ALDS, their season ended in the Bronx for the second straight year, with a loss to the Yankees in five games. Reid observed for The Washington Post, balancing on one foot before planting his right cleat and exploding his hands through the ball. You need somebody over there that knows the ins and outs of not only how the games played over there, but the culture, former Cubs general manager Jim Hendry says. David Arnold Niehaus was an American sportscaster. Ichiro Suzuki Baseball player. THE THROW TO THE PLATE WILL BE . Dusty Groove is Chicago's Online Record Store -- Jazz, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop, R&B, Latin, Brazil, African, World Music, Avant, Rock, Blues & more LPs, CDs, vinyl . I remember seeing his face, and this sounds strange, but he didnt seem dejected, he seemed pissed, Small says. Get Social with AzQuotes. Dave "The Groz" Grosby will finish up his 29-year career as a daily Seattle sports radio host on Friday from noon to 3 p.m. on 710 ESPN Seattle's Bob, Groz and Tom. Then Ichiro clarified. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus with As author Robert Whiting documented in The Meaning of Ichiro, Nobuyuki Suzuki instituted a relentless regimen for his son. 51 for the Mariners, in front of a home crowd at Safeco Field, Ichiro beat Johnson to first base on an infield single to lead off the bottom of the first inning. Since that time, millions of baseball fans around the world have subscribed to MLB.TV, the live video streaming product that airs every game in HD to nearly 400 different devices. Apr 21, 2017. Youve got to be really, really good to break that mold., As Orixs pitching coach between 1990 and 1993, Jim Colborn remembers hearing Ichiros name echoing constantly throughout the organization. Legendary Mariners voice Niehaus passes away at the age of 75. 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