All these moments combined are only some of the reasons he is being inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame this weekend. 24. Aaron Judge led the majors in 2022 in fun points per PA. They tied MLBs regular-season record with 116 wins and had the third-highest bWAR in baseball history (67.1). "An absolute missile that was placed in the perfect spot to nail Terrance Long," Colby said of the play. ", Let's not forget this one either. But he comes to play every day and hes got a looseness to him, and you dont see any argumentative confrontations on the field that you want to cast him as the bad guy, Colborn says. 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. 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 . After smacking two doubles to left field, he stepped to the plate in the seventh inning, surveyed the diamond with his right arm perpendicular to the ground, and whipped his hands through a low fastball to lift a home run into the bullpen beyond the right-field wall. Who cares if your glove is clean? In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus with It is one of the best memories of my career, and I will never forget that feeling. Ichiro is famously baseball-obsessed with the entire process of getting ready to play the sport. He was the instructor for a region void of the major league . In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame a And it was a perfect throw. --Terrence Long, The ball was hit right to me. That doesn't happen in Japan. [People] would pick up the newspaper and see Ichiro got two hits, and then several paragraphs down youd find out Seattle lost the game, he says. New Seattle Mariner player Ichiro Suzuki answers questions from Seattle fans through team scout and translator Hide Sueyoshi while team announcer. During Suzuki's first month in the majors in 2001 . But everybody knew it could only be Dave Niehaus. I want our players to know that I am with you in your fight to be the best. He also addressed Piniella. Carrying all of the responsibilities that came with being the first Japanese-born MLB position player, he never wavered. While that ended up not being the case, he gave Mariners fans quite the thrill in his last at-bat of the series, drilling a home run to send the crowd into a frenzy. Most ballplayers, theyd wear polo shirts and golf pants, but hed have baggy jeans and a cap on backwards. Shortly after retiring, Ichiro began as a special advisor to the Mariners, essentially serving as an assistant coach during Spring Training and most home games during the regular season. Tom Tango comes up with the idea of fun points based on fan polls to determine which players generate the most fun. The call by Dave Niehaus may be as good as . With Ichiros playing career having come to a close, lets look at the most memorable moments provided by an all-time great. During the previous three years, he broke the countrys single-season hit record (he had 210 hits in 130 games), won the first of seven straight batting titles, and transcended the limits of the Pacific League. 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. Its only fitting that two decades after Ichiro exploded onto the scene, Shohei Ohtani is having his own supernova MLB season. 2023 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Satellite Information Network, LLC. I want our players to know that I am with you in your fight to be the best. Bell says the roster was full of professional, consistent players, but adds, I wouldnt say there were guys that were superstar players or elite, unbelievable athletes. Ichiro was the exception. I wasn't ready for 116 kisses from the manager.. Flix Hernndez will be inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in August, the club announced Wednesday. 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. I remember seeing his face, and this sounds strange, but he didnt seem dejected, he seemed pissed, Small says. George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns had 257 hits for the St. Louis Browns in 1920, setting a . I've always thought it was "The throw by Ichiro, beautiful peg, he got him." 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. Remembering Dave Niehaus. **, Press J to jump to the feed. same result as his first game as a member of the Mariners, Groz Remembers: Ichiros Star Wars throw in 2001. Years earlier, at Nobuyukis urging, Colborn had promised to take care of Ichiro in his transition to the U.S.; ever the scout, Colborn warned Ichiro about that nights Dodgers starting pitcher, and then made a prediction. Thus, over the next few years, Colborn found it easy to court Ichiro, bringing him jerseys of Griffey Jr., his favorite player. Oh Ichiro it's why we love you. Its tough to end things, and the way it ended, there's just no other way to do that. That brought up pinch hitter Ramon Hernandez, who delivered a ground ball base hit to right. With one out and Oaklands Terrence Long at first base, catcher Ramn Hernndez grounded a single to right field. Visit MLB.com: http://mlb.mlb.comSubscribe to MLB.TV: mlb.tvDownload MLB.com At Bat: http://mlb.mlb.com/mobile/atbatGet tickets: http://mlb.mlb.com/ticketsOfficial MLB Merchandise: http://mlb.mlb.com/shop Join the conversation!Twitter: http://twitter.com/mlbFacebook: http://facebook.com/mlbInstagram: http://instagram.com/mlbGoogle+: https://plus.google.com/+MLBTumblr: http://drawntomlb.com/Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/MLBAM "I'm here to tell you, Ichiro threw something out of Star Wars down there at third base," Niehaus said. 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. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus with Follow Unfollow. In one of his final games ever, an exhibition against the Yomiuri Giants in the Tokyo Dome ahead of Seattles two-game 2019 season-opening series against Oakland, Ichiro uncorked one last laser of a throw from right field to keep a runner from advancing from second base to third. WALLA WALLA - As I listened to a Mariners pregame radio broadcast over my headphones recently as I jogged up Tieton Street, I was reminded of Suzuki carried the burden of an entire country in coming to America, and his success created opportunity for the countless others who have followed. It was stuff like that that I could pass on to help convince them, Colborn says of the Seattle execs. If there's another challenge that's put in front of him, it would not surprise me if he was able to conquer that challenge.". The M's will . Ball-tracking angle of Ichiro's throw in 2001. That doesn't happen in Japan. Hed just put the ball over there and it was an easy triple., By mastering a balanced, small-ball approach in a homer-happy epoch, Ichiro ushered in new defensive strategies, even as he simultaneously foiled them. But hes never wanted to be an imposing figure. David Niehaus had no idea who Janis Joplin was when they first met in Brazil. Ichiro would come up to bat and Mr. Niehaus could tell you the funniest story about him. Here's the call from 1995: "The stretch. Anybody who tried to copy Ichiro would have failed, Whiting says. With 'beautiful peg' meaning great throw and he got him meaning well, he got him. The reality of being 44 years old, being unable to consistently catch up to 95 mph fastballs, being a step or two slower trying to beat out an infield single. Wednesday night, a photo of Niehaus could be seen on the big screen from outside an empty Safeco Field. I mean, they had the left fielder on the left-field line, they had the third baseman almost shaking hands with him, they had the infield halfway in, had the second baseman pulled sometimesyou saw every defense that you could see, he says. By the All-Star break, it held a 19-game lead over the second-place As. Life Sports Mariners. He is a great model to follow., Indeed, Ichiros 2001 season provided a master class in unflappability, a model for excelling while living in a fishbowl existence. It read, "Dave Niehaus, 1935-2010." His empty chair and headpones sat in the broadcast booth . A laser beam, barely 10 feet off the ground, reached third baseman David Bell on the fly . "The Throw" was electric, and one of Ichiro's first introductions to baseball in the United States. Not only does Ichiro have 3,089 MLB hits, he also owns 1,278 from his nine seasons prior in Japan. It was great for Seattle, but it was really great for baseball, former MLB commissioner Bud Selig says of Ichiros debut. The . For many, Ichiro wasnt just a baseball player; he was a transcendent figure who demanded to be seen in person. "April 11, 2001: Ichiro throws an absolute rope from right field to gun down the A's' Terrence Long at third base. Hall of Fame broadcaster Dave Niehaus passed away on Wednesday in his Bellevue, Wash., home at the age of 75. Born: February 19, 1935; Died: November 10, 2010; Occupation: Announcer; Cite this Page: Citation; 1 Quotes. Major League Baseball consists of 30 teams split between the American and National Leagues. WARNING: awesome, What the fuck? 1. At 45 years old, Ichiro could still chuck it. SEATTLE On Saturday night, the Mariners will honor one of their own when they induct outfielder Ichiro Suzuki into the team's Hall of Fame before a scheduled game against . He's saying the throw was a beautiful peg. Its a charisma that I think has to do with stature and perceived vulnerability.. HERE COMES JOEY, HERE IS JUNIOR TO THIRD BASE, THEY'RE GOING TO WAVE HIM IN! And so that's why I feel good about not playing.. In a way, Niehaus was also describing what Suzuki was about to bring to the major leagues for 18 seasons. "Your future has possibilities that you cannot imagine, Ichiro said. In the winter, when Ichiro shot Nissan commercials in the United States, Colborn would host him at his home in Ventura, California, where he helped the Japanese star stay in shape. As author Robert Whiting documented in The Meaning of Ichiro, Nobuyuki Suzuki instituted a relentless regimen for his son. The Double: The most popular . He then addressed the current team, which eagerly watched the ceremony from the home dugout rail. 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). Happy Felix Day? And nobody has seen one since. Ichiro just defies what most athletes are capable of. Like theyd done in California, Colborn threw Ichiro batting practice beneath the closed roof, giving the dozen or so coaches and executives in attendance a front-row seat to observe his talent. **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. The manager gave me a big wet kiss. Next door in the press box, Mariners broadcaster Dave Niehaus described the throw as being like "something out of Star Wars," a call that was soon attached to the clip on every sports report . **, Press J to jump to the feed. Im anonymous here.. He made The Throw, "something out of Star Wars," as Mariners announcer Dave Niehaus exclaimed. Among fans nationwide and his peers, Niehaus was . Every day we present the best quotes! "His whole day, his whole night, everything he thought about, was about the next day's game and being prepared for it, from the way he works out to the routine that he's on. Ichiro Suzuki had already made a positive impression by the time he entered into legend status. Ichiro was showing signs of what he can do at the plate, hitting .371 at the time, but this was a sign of what the Mariners truly had. His defensive acumen and acrobaticshis speed, arm strength, and daring pursuit angles on fly ballsearned him a Gold Glove award in right field. "If this team is going to go to the playoffs, they have to have Chris Carson running the football.". The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! He became an All-Star in his first season and played for two other teams before leaving MLB in 2012. Period, man, you are out. And was he ever out., Bell: I knew he had a great arm, but I was a little surprised. I remember it being almost in slow motion. 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