?Chuck Armstrong, Seattle Mariners president and COO, added, "Speaking for ourselves, our . I went, What was that? 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. David Arnold Dave Niehaus (February 19, 1935 November 10, 2010) was an American sportscaster. They show that replay of it all the time because it was such a great tag, Bell says jokingly. SEATTLE - Ichiro Suzuki's otherworldly talents made an early impression on Dave Niehaus, the Hall of Fame voice of the Seattle Mariners.During Suzuki's first month in 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. "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. ROOT Sports analyst Mike Blowers talked to Bob, Groz and Tom about Lewis and what makes him stand out. Ichiro was such an exciting player, and for the rest of the baseball world to get to see him do something like this on the national stage was so special. In 2001, Ichiro Suzuki made his MLB debut for the Seattle Mariners. Terrance Long was over halfway from second to third when Ichiro picked up that ball. But . Youre going to hit a home run off Kevin Brown tonight, Colborn remembers telling him. Mines just as gold as yours, Boone says. 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. [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. "When I met Ichiro in Peoria, (Arizona) which is the first time I'd met him face to face, he walked in and had more presence than any other baseball player I'd ever encountered," Seattle general manager Jerry Dipoto said. He was just pissed., Small also reiterates how Ichiros rookie year had much bigger implications than just a championship. The Mariners were off to a good start in 2001 despite having lost Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. in back-to-back seasons. ! Ichiro shouted, after which he allowed the eager audience to roar back and take in the moment. "I'm here to tell you, Ichiro threw something out of Star Wars down there at third base," Niehaus said. Why did he run when I was going to throw him out? -- Ichiro, Dave Niehaus is a Seattle legend. In August 2002, MLB.com streamed the first-ever live, full length MLB game when the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees faced off at Yankee Stadium. But hes never wanted to be an imposing figure. I could never imagine my career in America would last 19 seasons and that I would still be in Seattle today.. All rights reserved. Fann: 6 most important Mariners highlights from spring training so far, Servais: How Mariners are helping Julio handle superstar spotlight, Mariners Notebook: The plan to get even more out of Luis Castillo. Anyone know what that means? I mean Forslund is already loved by the hockey community, I don't see how he doesn't succeed as our play by play. Joe Fann details the six biggest. At one MLB Japan All-Star Series in 2014, Small remembers U.S. manager John Farrell telling him the entire Japanese national lineup could have made an MLB roster. pic.twitter.com/NHiJ6PWM4P. "The Throw" was electric, and one of Ichiro's first introductions to baseball in the United States. Mike Trout He forced mistakes., Bret Boone, the Mariners second baseman from 2001 to 2005, says it was 50-50 whether Ichiro beat out a run-of-the-mill grounder in the infield. The manager gave me a big wet kiss. buhners is great too. **, Press J to jump to the feed. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! Speaking of Ichiros speed and All-Star Games, his first trip to the midsummer classic had another memorable moment created by his feet. **, Press J to jump to the feed. I need Ichiro to take a little batting practice, Piniella told him, before turning to his future star. So I've often said that he was the easiest guy I've ever had to manage because all you had to do was tell him what time the game was and you knew he'd be ready and committed to go.". Here's the call from 1995: "The stretch. I think Japans athletes can inspire such hope in the Japanese people, Masujima wrote. Ichiro set the single-season record for most hits (262) in a season in 2004, breaking Hall of . Of course, when I still run and do things, I feel like I can still play. his size limits his ability to throw over the intermediate middle, and hubris is preventing him from ceding control or reining in his preferred style of play (meaning he no longer runs with the football, and opts to take . There were a whole slew of guys that were maybe All-Stars in Japan but just not as outstanding a player [as Ichiro], but they found that there could be a role in MLB for those types of players., In 2008, Hendry engaged in a bidding war for star outfielder Kosuke Fukudome, a member of the Chunichi Dragons who had seen Ichiros success and was inspired to play abroad. The Colossal Legacy of Ichiros Rookie Season, 20 Years Later, Ichiro shot Nissan commercials in the United States, he told National League manager Bobby Valentine. Less than a decade after hed left Japan, he noticed a dramatic difference. "It was the first moment where you saw Ichiro wasnt 'just another guy' and, of course, it was accompanied by one of Niehaus best calls.". Yet for all his stops over his 28-year playing career, there was always an affinity for the Mariners. ", I'm just gonna leave this here. Don't you know. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 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. He is somebody I have tried to mimic, not just hitting but playing-wise, even how he handles the media. Not long after signing, Ichiro and his wife, Yumiko, visited Seattle, where the Mariners set up a private workout inside Safeco Field. Every day from 3:30 to 7 p.m., Ichiro would hit soft toss and take fungo drills in a nearby park. Jake Kring-Schreifels is a sports and entertainment writer based in New York. Mariano Rivera is widely considered the greatest closer of all-time. He was a legend before Id even seen him, Colborn says. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. Not only are they standing shoulder to shoulder with their overseas peers, in some cases they are leading the way., Hideki Matsui followed Ichiro to the majors in 2003, crossing the Pacific and signing with the Yankees. Colborn predicted that a bid of $10 million would win Ichiros negotiating rights, but Yamauchi wanted a failsafe number and threw in a couple extra million of his own money. #IchiroWeekend pic.twitter.com/Upl1XeSY48, Ichiro Girl reuniting with Ichiro is the most wholesome thing weve ever seen pic.twitter.com/vrM41SHLaB. Walk-off homers were a rarity off the Yankees legend. A year later, Colborns extensive scouting reports and personal relationship with Ichiro convinced Pat Gillick, the Mariners new GM, to make a strong play for him after the 2000 season. Love Raible. "He's the most committed player that I've ever had," Melvin recalled. Aaron Judge led the majors in 2022 in fun points per PA. It just kept carrying, and youre waiting for it to bounce, and it just never did., Thats one of the greatest throws Ive ever seen in my life, Rizzs says. By instigating at the top of the lineup, wreaking havoc on the basepaths, and turning each game into an electric environment, he added an element to our team that really sparked us in many different ways, Bell says. With MLBs newly established posting system (which negated much of Colborns and the Mariners groundwork), Gillick leaned on ownershipparticularly principal owner Hiroshi Yamauchi, a Nintendo chairman who loved watching Ichiro play in Japanto make a competitive offer. If I started a game against him, the day before they want to talk to you, after the game they want to talk to you, the next day they want to talk to you, Mulder says. Ichiros 2018 run with the Mariners may not have lasted long, but it at least produced one special play that made everybody remember why he means so much in Seattle. "To come over here and pave the way for a lot of Japanese players, what he and (Hideo) Nomo did, that's not an easy thing to do," said Oakland manager Bob Melvin, who managed Suzuki for two seasons in Seattle. Importantly, Japanese players could measure themselves against Ichiro, who measured himself against MLB, Colborn says. 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. More >. When hes working, hes almost always in full uniform and going at maximum physical effort, whether running the bases, shagging fly balls or everything in between. The M's will . 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. From 2001-2010, Ichiro set a Major League record with 10 consecutive seasons of 200 or more hits. Mike Trout Id meet with him somewhere, usually at UCLA, one time we went to Cal State Fullerton, another time to Pepperdine, Colborn says. And it was a perfect throw. --Terrence Long, The ball was hit right to me. The Japanese sensation would go on to win the Rookie of the Year and the MVP that same season . 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. 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. "Break out the rye bread and mustard, grandma! When I threw a good split down and away, or when I threw a good sinker in, or when I threw a curveball down over the plate, he found a way to hit that ball harder than anyone else that I would face, says Mulder, who gave up 17 hits to Ichiro in 38 career encounters. Remember, we won 116 games that year. Baseball will forever be my soul, and my mission is to keep helping both players and fans appreciate this special game., Just a few legends hangin' out on #IchiroWeekend. SEATTLE (AP) Ichiro Suzuki's otherworldly talents made an early impression on Dave Niehaus, the Hall of Fame voice of the Seattle Mariners. Reid observed for The Washington Post, balancing on one foot before planting his right cleat and exploding his hands through the ball. Ichiro was a big part of that.. David Niehaus had no idea who Janis Joplin was when they first met in Brazil. The first Japanese-born position player to make the majors also filled the Mariners celebrity void left by Alex Rodriguez, Ken Griffey Jr., and Randy Johnson, all of whom had recently departed Seattle. So when fellow Mariner great Ken Griffey Jr. had to chase down Ichiros hit off the wall in right field during the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco, there was pretty much no chance of keeping him from scoring on the play. The Mariners gave already provided a number of exciting moments in the first week of Cactus League play. While I was playing at NPB and watching Ichiro playing well in the major leagues, my motivation became strong [to] play at the top level, Fukudome says through an interpreter. He was just this unique individual, the result of a very unusual set of circumstances.. I root for MN where Max Kepler and Byron Buxton wouldn't attempt that throw if they were picking it up while the runner was on second base. Looking back at Ichiros 2001, Colborn says one other memory stands out. You know how many times I saw Miguel Tejada field a ball and throw it? 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. Fukudome might not have had the reputation that Ichiro had, but he was a really good hitter, and I think there was more of a comfort zone that even though he wasnt going to be a big power guy, everyone thought he was going to hit for a high average and hit for average power and play great defense in right field, which he did, Hendry says. He was 75. That doesn't happen in Japan. Everything was just precise. On road trips, Ichiro distinguished himself by carrying his bat in a violin-case humidor and stowing it in the overhead compartment instead of the planes belly; on the field, he always made sure his glove was unharmed. I thought to myself if this is customary in America, I might not make it here. "If this team is going to go to the playoffs, they have to have Chris Carson running the football.". Happy Felix Day? He opened the eyes of America to Japanese baseball, Small says. Even though the couple ultimately split as her relationship with heroin and alcohol grew, he still . 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. Naturally, in a matchup between Seattles current star and its former one, Ichiro singled off Randy Johnson in the bottom of the first. That unconventional homer helped him become the second Mariners player to win the All-Star Game MVP award, following in the footsteps of Griffey. He also played for the Yankees and Marlins, albeit less prominently, and nine years in Japan before his MLB debut in 2001. I remember how surreal it was on the bus just looking around like, Did that just happen? Boone says. Legendary Mariners voice Niehaus passes away at the age of 75. He lives to train and tirelessly works to take care of his body. 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. 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. 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