Influence of Seattle Mariners Legend Ichiro Suzuki Still Felt Two Decades Later
The Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs will kick off the 2025 season on the Eastern hemisphere Tuesday morning for the two-game Tokyo Series in Japan.
The Seattle Mariners will stay stateside for the rest of spring training and Opening Day against the Athletics on March 27. The same two teams played each other in the 2019 iteration of the event.
The Mariners have a rich history of players from Japan, none more notable than 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki.
Suzuki came stateside after nine years with the Orix BlueWave that included seven Nippon Professional Baseball All-Star selections, three Pacific League MVPs, seven Gold Gloves and seven Best Nine awards. He made his debut for Seattle in 2001 and instantly took the MLB by storm. He won the American League MVP, Rookie of the Year and batting title in his debut season. He's the only player to win all three awards in one year.
OTD in 2001, Ichiro Suzuki became only the second player to win MVP and Rookie of the Year in the same season.pic.twitter.com/aZ7qBCL7TB
— MLB Vault (@MLBVault) November 20, 2020
Suzuki helped lead the organization to the playoffs that same year. It was the last time the Mariners made the postseason until 2022.
Suzuki might not have made the playoffs again with Seattle, but 2001 was the beginning of a storied career that included many accolades.
In 2004, Suzuki had 262 hits to set the MLB single-season record. The previous record holder — George Sisler — had the record for 84 years before Suzuki broke it.
Suzuki is also one of seven players in MLB history to have 3,000 career hits and 500 stolen bases.
When Suzuki retired, he held the record for the most hits by a professional baseball player, including his time in Japan, with 4,367.
Suzuki retired in 2019 as a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, two-time batting champion and one-time MVP.
In January, Suzuki was announced as one of three inductees into the 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was one vote away from being the second unanimous selection in history. The Mariners announced they will retire Suzuki's No. 51 before a game game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Aug. 9.
Beyond his records and new Hall of Fame status, it's Suzuki's influence on the game that continues to reverberate. He has opened the door for more Japanese players to come over, especially position players.
Hideki Matsui signed with the New York Yankees. He won a championship and was named World Series MVP in 2009.
The best player in baseball today and defending World Series champion, Shohei Ohtani, has named Suzuki as one of his role models.
Suzuki still works with the team as a special assistant to the chairman and can be seen at T-Mobile Park and the Peoria Sports Complex shagging balls in pregame workouts. He met a Chicago White Sox, Rikuu Nishida, during a Cactus League game earlier this spring. Nishida was almost speechless talking to Suzuki.
Seattle and Suzuki sent a signed, game-used bat to Nishida several weeks later.
To this day, "No. 51" can be spotted no matter where one is located at T-Mobile Park. And that's not changing anytime soon.
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