[0:35 for exact replay]. pic.twitter.com/2FgBfpmIV2. **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. He also thanked Mariners ownership for the opportunity to contribute as a special advisor in his post-playing days. Check out http://m.mlb.com/video for our full archive of videos, and subscribe on YouTube for the best, exclusive MLB content: http://youtube.com/MLB About MLB.com:Commissioner Allan H. (Bud) Selig announced on January 19, 2000, that the 30 Major League club owners voted unanimously to centralize all of Baseball's internet operations into an independent technology company. Everything was like clockworkhed get his massage, hit off the tee, light weights, stretch, snack. Whether he wants to accept the label or not, Suzuki was a trailblazer. Most ballplayers, theyd wear polo shirts and golf pants, but hed have baggy jeans and a cap on backwards. "Your future has possibilities that you cannot imagine, Ichiro said. 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. 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. Every day from 3:30 to 7 p.m., Ichiro would hit soft toss and take fungo drills in a nearby park. I'm not sure he threw that ball at an upward angle. "This is truly devastating news," said Seattle Mariners chairman Howard Lincoln. Dave Parker, Ellis Valentine, Jay (Buhner) when I came here but, boy, that ball had some hop on it., Buhner: You just dont see a guy throw like that all the way in the air, when its cold as hell, when hes been sitting for seven innings., Second baseman Bret Boone: I only heard the ball as it went past my ear. Can't stop smiling at the absurdity. MLB.com features a stable of club beat reporters and award-winning national columnists, the largest contingent of baseball reporters under one roof, who deliver over 100 original articles every day. Twenty years later, Ichiros rookie season remains an inflection point, the beginning of a legacy thats opened the door for other Japanese position players to thrive in MLB. What started as, What the heck is this guy? Inside the Tokyo Dome as a Mariners employee, Id be the only scout there, he says. David Arnold Dave Niehaus (February 19, 1935 November 10, 2010) was an American sportscaster. Are you kidding me? Niehaus was a constant. Its tough to end things, and the way it ended, there's just no other way to do that. He lives to train and tirelessly works to take care of his body. 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. Happy Felix Day? Niehaus died at his home in suburban Bellevue, according to his family. He's shifting to a new role as special assistant to the chairman. Do you know who had the second highest? But . Check out video, photos and more from his big night here. Dave Niehaus. 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. LATE! Facing Randy Johnson, another famous former No. Even though the couple ultimately split as her relationship with heroin and alcohol grew, he still . The Mariners were off to a good start in 2001 despite having lost Alex Rodriguez and Ken Griffey Jr. in back-to-back seasons. Mines just as gold as yours, Boone says. And his unique approach to hittinghis on-deck stretches, circular bat warmup, and distinct scamper out of the boxdefied all baseball norms. Ichiro just defies what most athletes are capable of. Sharing the field with his idols for the first time, Ichiro displayed his quick bat and strong arm, impressing Piniella and the rest of his temporary teammates. Mariners outfielder Kyle Lewis hit his fifth home run in eight games in the big leagues on Wednesday. I want our players to know that I am with you in your fight to be the best. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. He may never play another game in the majors. Simply put, it was vintage Ichiro. Physically, I feel like I can play. Ichiro would come up to bat and Mr. Niehaus could tell you the funniest story about him. In 2004, he did just that, passing Sisler on Oct. 1. Born: February 19, 1935; Died: November 10, 2010; Occupation: Announcer; Cite this Page: Citation; 1 Quotes. Ichiro will be honored by the Mariners in August 2022, including being inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in a pregame ceremony on Aug. 27. . MLB.com also offers extensive historical information and footage, online ticket sales, official baseball merchandise, authenticated memorabilia and collectibles and fantasy games. 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). Ichiro walks off into history in sayonara at Tokyo Dome. But emotionally because I was able to finish the way I was able to finish, that kind of beats out all the other things; it just makes it so that I'm at peace.. He is somebody I have tried to mimic, not just hitting but playing-wise, even how he handles the media. All rights reserved. By that time, it didnt look like this was this giant gamble., Over the next decade, as Ichiro extended his career in New York and Miami, the level of Japanese baseball continued to rise. Sign up to receive our daily Morning Lineup to stay in the know about the latest trending topics around Major League Baseball. Ichiro Suzuki had a .244 BA after an 0-2 count, 20 points higher than any other player in our database (min. Remember, we won 116 games that year. 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 here's the audio. 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. In 2008, the National Baseball Hall of Fame awarded Niehaus the Ford C. Frick Award, the highest honor for American baseball broadcasters. Put them together and it makes him the all-time pro baseball hit king, a title he passed Pete Rose for in 2016. Speaking of Ichiros speed and All-Star Games, his first trip to the midsummer classic had another memorable moment created by his feet. And when he steals second, he don't say please. Carrying all of the responsibilities that came with being the first Japanese-born MLB position player, he never wavered. Subscribe to Stathead , the set of tools used by the pros, to unearth this and other interesting factoids. Awesome. THE MARINERS ARE GOING TO PLAY FOR THE AMERICAN LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP! Ken Levine. Who cares if your glove is clean? He told me one time [that] a good carpenter has to take care of his saw and his hammer and his tools, and he said, This glove is one of my tools, Gillick recalls. The manager gave me a big wet kiss. He also addressed Piniella.\n\nLou kissed me right here on the cheek, Ichiro said. Dave Niehaus, the voice of the Seattle Mariners since the team's inception in 1977, passed away on November 10th at his home in Bellevue, WA. 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 . Because we only got to see him in the postseason once, many of Ichiro's greatest moments came in the regular season. For the rest of the year, Ichiro and the Mariners didnt slow down. Somebody needs to sync that up. And the qualities that endear those players to fans resemble what resonated about Ichiro in 2001. Tom Tango comes up with the idea of fun points based on fan polls to determine which players generate the most fun. The version on MLB's YouTube channel doesn't have it, and it's too bad. "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.". By 2006, when an Ichiro-led Japan beat the United States in the World Baseball Classic, MLB managers and players had noticed a change. 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. How did he not tear the muscles in his entire body making that throw. One by one, Ichiro shared a message with each, blending in his trademark quick-wit humor with heartfelt respect. The single-season hit record. Ichiro set the single-season record for most hits (262) in a season in 2004, breaking Hall of . Ken Griffey Jr., Jamie Moyer, manager Lou Piniella and broadcaster Dave Niehaus. 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. The Double: The most popular . From Diego Segui's first pitch on April 6, 1977, through the end of the 2010 season, Niehaus called 5,284 of the Mariners' 5,385 games. 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. His 133 hits at the break marked a club record, and his league-leading 3.4 million votes made him an All-Star starter as a rookie. Of course, when I still run and do things, I feel like I can still play. Mike Trout Ichiro came up throwing, and no one who saw it or heard Dave Niehaus' memorable call will ever forget it. . **For the best user experience, we recommend disabling the Reddit redesign. 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. His last was Ichiro Suzuki's fly out to end the Mariners' final game this year on Oct. 3. Love Raible. Flix Hernndez will be inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in August, the club announced Wednesday. This might actually be the greatest catch of all-time. I was treated like some kind of guest royalty. Cant wait to hear his excitement very soon! George Sisler of the St. Louis Browns had 257 hits for the St. Louis Browns in 1920, setting a . After he broke the hits record, you would see him on a lot of billboards in Japan, Whiting says. The passion with which you welcomed me back touched my heart. 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. The biggest void Ichiro envisioned that hed face upon retiring was the passion he had for playing, and how hard itd be to hang up his glove. Ichiro came up throwing, and no one who saw it or heard Dave Niehaus memorable call will ever forget it. \n","providerName":"Twitter","providerUrl":"https://twitter.com","type":"rich","width":550},"type":"oembed"},{"__typename":"Markdown","content":"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. 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. Follow Unfollow. And so that's why I feel good about not playing.. I wasn't ready for 116 kisses from the manager.. He opened the eyes of America to Japanese baseball, Small says. The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! That changed after Ichiros breakthrough in the U.S. Matsui knew that the entire nation of Japan was looking at him, Whiting says. 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. 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. Rarely do you see a throw start that low and carry that far. [But Ichiro] wasnt just going to sit back and cry because they lost. ?Chuck Armstrong, Seattle Mariners president and COO, added, "Speaking for ourselves, our . Likewise, the fans invited Dave into their homes as he brought to life on the radio the heroics of such Mariners legends as Alvin Davis, Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jay Buhner, Randy Johnson, Ichiro, Felix Hernandez and the list goes on and on.. Dave was the voice of spring and summer in the Northwest . It read, "Dave Niehaus, 1935-2010." His empty chair and headpones sat in the broadcast booth . Theyd let me sit in the lower field-level seats behind plexiglass windows with their scouts and their media people. When he returned, it got to the point where the American scouts were like a pest., Using Ichiros and Matsuis success as a blueprint, more Japanese position players began testing their skills overseas, from So Taguchi and Kaz Matsui to Tadahito Iguchi and Kenji Johjima. After returning home for dinner and schoolwork, hed work in the batting cage from 9:30 to 11. An airport hot dog? he asked Ichiros interpreter. Hes a thin, frail-looking guy. And it was a perfect throw. --Terrence Long, The ball was hit right to me. Three weeks into spring training, Lou Piniella had seen enough to be concerned. 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. Niehaus was the voice of the Mariners from their first game on April 6, 1977, through the end of the 2010 season with his golden Midwestern voice punctuated by his trademark "My oh My!" and "It will fly away!" calls. 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. Looking back at Ichiros 2001, Colborn says one other memory stands out. I need Ichiro to take a little batting practice, Piniella told him, before turning to his future star. 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. Mariners superstar Julio Rodrguez is in the spotlight as one of MLB's top players. SEATTLE King's Court will be back in session this summer. ROOT Sports analyst Mike Blowers talked to Bob, Groz and Tom about Lewis and what makes him stand out. Ichiro tips his cap to the Tokyo crowd as he leaves his last MLB game. Theyre taking some of our weight training regimens and the way we approach the game in the States and applying it to what theyre doing, says Small, who lived in Japan from 2003 to 2019. Do you know who had the second highest? It felt good for my soul.. Ichiro didnt start playing in America until he was 27. Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. 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. ", More AP baseball: www.apnews.com/tags/MLBbaseball. Not only does Ichiro have 3,089 MLB hits, he also owns 1,278 from his nine seasons prior in Japan. "Pow, he got him" combined with "pegged him". I saw this angle 20 years ago and have been looking for it ever since. 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 Told him, before turning to his family crowd as he leaves his last MLB game and from. 1935 November 10, 2010 ) was an American sportscaster in session this summer, Piniella him... Wasnt just GOING to sit back and cry because they lost it,... Jamie Moyer, manager Lou Piniella had seen enough to be concerned another memorable created! Was treated like some kind of guest royalty top players ) was an American sportscaster, &. 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