Seattle Mariners Honor Team, Baseball Legend on His Birthday
The Seattle Mariners might get some more representation in the Hall of Fame in the next few years. And the most likely new addition to the Hall just celebrated a birthday.
Mariners legend and the MLB's all-time single-season hits leader Ichiro Suzuki celebrated his 51st birthday on Tuesday. And Seattle made sure to wish its long-time franchise star a happy birthday on "X".
Happy birthday to the one and only Ichiro!
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) October 22, 2024
Year 5️⃣1️⃣ is shaping up to be a special one for No. 5️⃣1️⃣ pic.twitter.com/CBpFizfaHR
Suzuki played 19 years in the major leagues. The better part of 14 of them were with the Mariners.
Suzuki joined Seattle after playing nine years with the Orix BlueWave in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball league.
Across Suzuki's nearly three decades of professional baseball, he had more recorded hits than any player ever with 4,367. He's 24th all-time on the MLB's all-time hits list with 3,089. He also set the league's single-season hit record with 262 in 2004.
Suzuki came to America with almost impossible expectations and still surpassed all of them.
When Suzuki signed with the Mariners before the 2001 season, he inherited a team that had just played its first full season without the legendary Ken Griffey Jr.
Suzuki joined a talented roster that had team Hall of Famers Edgar Martinez and Dan Wilson. But the then-rookie quickly proved himself to be on the level of those aforementioned players.
Suzuki set the rookie single-season hits record with 242 and won the American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards that year. He also helped lead the Mariners to the American League Championship Series. That season was the franchise's last playoff berth before 2022.
Suzuki was traded to the New York Yankees in 2012 and played with the Bronx Bombers through 2014. He played another three seasons with the Miami Marlins before returning to Seattle in 2018 and retired after the 2019 season.
The legend, Ichiro Suzuki will retire after today’s game 🐐 pic.twitter.com/L3iwfgHx4W
— Baseball Bros (@BaseballBros) March 21, 2019
Suzuki has remained with the Mariners in an advisory role since retiring. He often can be seen pregame at T-Mobile Park shagging balls in the outfield.
Suzuki is up for his first year of Hall of Fame eligibility in 2025 alongside the best pitcher in franchise history Felix Hernandez.
And it will be the farthest thing from a shock if Suzuki makes it to Cooperstown first-ballot.
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