SEATTLE – It’s hard enough picking the top 10 moments of Ichiro’s brilliant baseball career, much less ranking them in order. Ask 10 people, and you would likely get 10 different answers.
So before Ichiro is likely voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, we revisit 10 of his best moments over a legendary MLB career.
1. Ichiro breaks George Sisler’s 84-year-old season hits record
In 1920, George Sisler had 257 hits, a record that for decades seemed as safe as Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak. On Oct. 1, 2004, Ichiro recorded his 258th hit of the season, and finished with 262. Don’t be surprised if the new mark lasts for more than 84 years.
2. Ichiro gets his 3,000th MLB hit
It’s hard to believe that a player who spent nine seasons playing in Japan before coming to Major League Baseball could rack up 3,000 MLB hits. But Ichiro, while playing for the Florida Marlins, became the 30th player to reach one of baseball’s most coveted milestones on Aug. 7, 2016, hitting a triple off the wall against Colorado reliever Chris Rusin.
3. Ten consecutive 200-hit seasons
Reaching 200 hits in one season is special, but to do it 10 times in a row was unprecedented, until Ichiro did it on Sept. 23, 2010, against the Toronto Blue Jays. It’s hard to imagine that feat being surpassed.
4. The ‘Spider-Man’ catch
Time to turn to defense. Ichiro made many spectacular catches over the years. Perhaps none was better than when he evoked images of “Spider-Man” by climbing the right-field wall at then-Safeco Field and robbing the Angels’ Garret Anderson of a home run on May 2, 2005.
5. Unleashing ‘The Throw’
Ichiro won Gold Gloves for 10 consecutive seasons, in part because of his great arm. If opponents had any doubt about that, it certainly changed in his first season with the Mariners. On April 11, 2001, the Oakland A’s Terrence Long tried to advance from first to third on a single to right field. Ichiro had other ideas. His throw was perfect, Long was out, and you have to see it to totally appreciate it.
6. Ichiro beats Rivera with walkoff homer
The Yankees’ Mariano Rivera, arguably the greatest closer of all time, had converted 36 consecutive save attempts and was one out from another one on Sept. 18, 2009. The Mariners trailed 2-1 when Ichiro came up with a runner on second base and two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Ichiro hit the first pitch into the right-field seats. He had 117 home runs in his career, and this one might have been the biggest.
7. All-Star Game heroics
Ichiro showed off his great speed, circling the bases for an inside-the-park home run in the 2007 All-Star Game in San Francisco. It remains the only inside-the-park homer in All-Star Game history, and Ichiro was named MVP after the American League’s 5-4 victory.
8. Ichiro, the new hits king?
Pete Rose still holds the MLB record for career hits with 4,256, but Ichiro would be the hit king if you count the 1,278 hits he had in Japan. Ichiro reached 4,257 combined hits on June 15, 2016, with the Marlins, hitting a double off the San Diego Padres’ Fernando Rodney (remember him, Mariners fans?). Ichiro finished with 4,367 combined hits.
9. First game as a foe
On July 23, 2012, the Mariners dealt Ichiro to the New York Yankees. It just happened that the Yankees were playing that night in Seattle. Ichiro, batting eighth, got a huge ovation from Mariners fans, and he responded with bows that got the crowd even more worked up.
10. A fitting ending
With the Mariners playing in Japan, Mariners manager Scott Servais sent Ichiro out to right field in the eighth inning, then pulled the rest of the defense off the field. That left just Ichiro on the field as he was replaced by rookie Braden Bishop. Ichiro left to huge applause and announced after the game he was retiring. “For me, it doesn’t get better than tonight,” Ichiro said through a translator.