Where does the time go? I realize for most of you it’s hard
to imagine a time when I had frosted tips and a pretty skimpy beard growth.
Yes, this was my 2001 in a nut shell. I had moved to Vancouver,
Washington about half-way through the summer
of 2000 on account that life in Bakersfield,
California wasn’t healthy for me
anymore. My father and I were constantly fighting and I felt that I was
slinking into a deeper hole of depression by staying there. My mother had moved
to Vancouver
two years prior. I didn’t think it was that bad at first, but then again, I had
only visited during the summer months. I really had no comprehension of the
rain that would eventually drive me crazy once autumn rolled around. Obviously
it hasn’t made me too crazy as I still live in the Pacific
Northwest. Not going to lie though, I still hate the rain most
days.
By the time March of 2001 had rolled around things were
starting to get a little crazy in the baseball world. The hype around the
signing of some dude from Japan
was building and building every day closer to Opening Day. There wasn’t much
that any of us knew about him other than the facts that he played for the Orix
Blue Wave and had pretty much been bred and taught by his father to be one of
the greatest hitters of all-time. I was honestly rather skeptical. I mean, it
was great that he had dominated Nippon Professional Baseball from 1992-2000,
but how would his game translate to the Majors? I was working at the Vancouver
Just Sports location at the time and one of the things I will never forget was
how much Ichiro Suzuki product before the season started. It was quite amusing
to be honest, and I’m going to do my best to try to not offend anyone with this
next bit.
I think anyone who has been around baseball knows that
Japanese people love to support their own. The first time I can recall this is
when Hideo Nomo made his debut with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995. With
Ichiro, things amplified a smidge. For those who don’t remember, Ichiro was the
first position player to ever make the jump into the Show. Despite all the
awards he won overseas: Japan Series Championship in 1996, stolen base award in
1995, seven-time All-Star, seven-time batting champion, seven-time Gold Glove
award winner and three-time MVP; none of the critics felt that he game was
going to be able to translate to the US on account that his frame is too small
and his routines and motions are too unorthodox. I didn’t feel that strongly, I
pretty much only though that he’d strike out a lot more than he did. But no
matter how much the media dogged on him, Japanese folk would walk into Just
Sports in droves and say, “Ichiro!” Very few words were exchanged between the
customers and us, as the language barrier kind of tangled things up. Literally,
all I did for the entire season was point out our Ichiro section and help them
find the size they were looking for. The transactions usually broke down like
this:
Customer: “Ichiro!”
Me: I’d point them in the right direction and point out the
hats as well.
Customer: “L!” Size name were never used, it was only the
first letter. For extra large they would say, “2-L!”
Me: Ring them up.
When the day finally came I happened to be working. We
didn’t have a television in the store so we turned on the ESPN radio affiliate
to catch the game. From what I recall that night was also the first time in
about six years that I had listened to a baseball game from first to last pitch
on the radio. Geez, I was breaking all sorts of record that day.
I chose to mark up this cap because this is the exact style
that the Seattle Mariners wore on Opening Day of the 2001 season. The hat made
its debut during the Mariners’ home opener back in 1993, which means that this
year that hat will be celebrating its 20th birthday. Hooray! Of all
the moments throughout Seattle’s
past I had to roll with this. While I realize the importance of the 1995
American league Division Series versus the New York Yankees, the impact this
mark has on the baseball realm is almost similar to what Tiger Woods has done
to golf.
4/2/01- April 2, 2001 was the day Ichiro made his debut in
Major League Baseball…. but unfortunately it had to come against my Oakland
Athletics. Despite being an “unproven” talent, Ichiro went 2-5 with two singles
and the Mariners won the game 5-4. With his solid discipline at the plate, the
critics eased off a little bit, but still questioned how he would perform in
the field. It only took seven more games for Ichiro to silence everyone.
“The Throw” as it has been named in Japan took
place on Wednesday, April 11 when a relatively speedy Terrance Long tried to
test the arm of the fresh-faced rookie right fielder. What an embarrassing
mistake that was. If you haven’t seen it or don’t recall it, shame on you. But
here it is anyway: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16865121&c_id=sea
The thing that we all tend to forget, at least at that time,
is that Ichiro had nine years of professional baseball experience before the
2001 season. While the critics tried to argue that it’s a completely different
style of baseball in Japan, here we are 12 years later to celebrate the man,
sadly on a new team, who revolutionized what it means to be a five-tool player.
In his first season Ichiro became the second player to win the Rookie of the
Year award and the League MVP in the same season. Fred Lynn was the first to
accomplish this with the Boston Red Sox back in 1975. In 2001 Ichiro batted
.350, which earned him his first of two AL
batting titles. He also Made the All-Star team, won a Gold Glove, stole 56
bases which led the league as well, had eight triples and a league high 242
hits. It was hands down the most impressive rookie campaign I had ever
witnessed. Oh, and the Mariners tied the MLB record for most winds in a season
with 116.
Ichiro’s career
clearly didn’t go downhill after that season, despite the lack luster years for
the Mariners that soon followed their greatest success to date. From 2001-2010
Ichiro made the All-Star team every year, he hit .303 or higher ever single
year, he had 206 or more hits every single year and he won the Gold Glove award
for right field ever single year. In 2004 Ichiro broke George Sisler’s single
season hit mark by knocking 262 into the field of play. This year also brought
attention to long-time Mariners fan Amy Franz (@ichimeterlady) who had her
famous Ichi-meter counter inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
The other thing you have to consider in this time frame are
all the other players that made the jump from, not only Japan, but South
Korea and Taiwan
as well. For the past eight years I have been ardent about Ichiro being a Hall
of Famer once his career is over. At the time I got a lot of flack for it, but
now there isn’t much of an argument anymore. The kid’s got the goods! Even
though his career has taken a bit of a turn since the 2011 season, he’s still
doing better than most Hall of Famers did in their twilight. For his career
Ichiro has a .322 lifetime average, a .365 on-base percentage and 2607 hits at
the moment. Ichiro is currently 39-years-old and still in better shape than a
lot of guys throughout the league. Realistically, if he stays healthy and hits
.274 or better he could break 3000 in about two years. Just imagine how many
hits he would have been able to tally if he started in the Majors when he was
18-years-old like in Japan.
It took me a few years to really appreciate what Ichiro has
done throughout his career, but that mostly comes from a pro-Athletics
standpoint. He is, without a doubt, on my all-time fantasy team list, as he
should be on pretty much everyone else’s. It’s a shame to see him wearing
pinstripes, but it will be more than deserved when he gets enshrined in Cooperstown while wearing the Mariners compass.
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