Houston Astros Star Passes Seattle Mariners Legend in American League History

Jose Altuve went yard to open the game on Saturday for Houston, passing Ichiro Suzuki in a specific category in baseball history.

Former Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki looks on during a Spring Training workout at Peoria Sports Complex in 2024. / Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Astros lost 3-2 on Saturday afternoon to the Baltimore Orioles. That undoubtedly made Seattle Mariners fans happy as it kept the M's within 4.5 games of Houston in the American League West.

However, Astros star Jose Altuve passed Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki in the history books, which will undoubtedly disappoint fans who love to hate Altuve and the Astros.

With a home run in the top of the first inning, Altuve connected on his 38th career leadoff home run, which passed Ichiro for the fifth-most in AL history.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Most career home runs to lead off a game - Player in American League history (1901-present):
69- Rickey Henderson
60- George Springer
48- Ian Kinsler
44- Brady Anderson
38- @Astros Jose Altuve (Via doing so in a losing cause on Saturday vs BAL)
37- Ichiro Suzuki
33- Paul Molitor

Most career home runs to lead off a game - Player in American League history (1901-present):
69- Rickey Henderson
60- George Springer
48- Ian Kinsler
44- Brady Anderson
38- @astros Jose Altuve (Via doing so in a losing cause on Saturday vs BAL)
37- Ichiro Suzuki
33- Paul Molitor pic.twitter.com/X4YMoZ9Mmk

— StatsCentre (@StatsCentre) August 25, 2024

Entering play on Sunday, the 34-year-old Altuve is having another stellar year for Houston. He's hitting .299 with 18 homers and continue to pace the top of their order with Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman.

He'll have another chance to hit a leadoff homer on Sunday night when the Astros visit the Orioles again as part of 'Sunday Night Baseball.'

As for Ichiro, he is one of the best players in baseball history.

He amassed 3,089 hits in his United States career. He was a lifetime .311 hitter who stole 509 career bases.

Ichiro won a laundry list of awards including Rookie of the Year (2001) and MVP (2001). He was a two-time batting champion, a 10-time Gold Glover, a 10-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger.

He played parts of 14 seasons with the Mariners, three with the Yankees and three with the Marlins. Remarkably durable throughout his career, he never played less than 136 games in a season until age 44.

RELATED SEATTLE MARINERS CONTENT:

NEW PODCAST IS OUT: The latest episode of the "Refuse to Lose" podcast is out as Brady Farkas talks about the Mariners firing Scott Servais, hiring Dan Wilson and Jerry Dipoto getting to stay on the job. Furthermore, we are joined by Ty Buttrey, who played most of this season at Triple-A Tacoma. He shares his opinion on Servais, the organization and the state of baseball as a whole in an enlightening conversation. CLICK HERE:

CAMMY GIVES PROPS: After Dan Wilson won his first game as Mariners manager, his former teammate had a nice message. CLICK HERE:

OHTANI CHASING A-ROD: With a 40/40 season now in-hand, Shohei Ohtani is taking name at Alex Rodriguez's magical 1998 season. CLICK HERE:

Follow Inside the Mariners on social media

Continue to follow our Inside the Mariners coverage on social media by liking us on Facebook and by following Teren Kowatsch and Brady Farkas on "X" @Teren_Kowatsch and @wdevradiobrady. You can subscribe to the "Refuse to Lose" podcast by clicking HERE: