{"id":58720,"date":"2022-08-28T10:40:12","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T10:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-and-seattle-have-never-left-my-heart-ichiro-a-hit-during-mariners-hall-of-fame-induction\/"},"modified":"2022-08-28T10:40:12","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T10:40:12","slug":"baseball-and-seattle-have-never-left-my-heart-ichiro-a-hit-during-mariners-hall-of-fame-induction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-and-seattle-have-never-left-my-heart-ichiro-a-hit-during-mariners-hall-of-fame-induction\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Baseball and Seattle have never left my heart&#8217;: Ichiro a hit during Mariners&#8217; Hall of Fame induction"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-content\">\n<p>Lou Piniella, famously, was skeptical when Ichiro arrived from Japan for his first spring training with the Seattle Mariners in 2001.<\/p>\n<p>Ichiro was skeptical of his new manager, too.<\/p>\n<p>During a 15-minute speech Saturday evening \u2014 conducted all in English before a sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park \u2014 Ichiro revealed his sense of humor as he recalled his first regular-season game in the major leagues.<\/p>\n<p>The Mariners won the game, the first of 116 victories during that charmed 2001 season, and afterward Piniella cornered Ichiro in the clubhouse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube embed-container mv-4 article-figure-caption font-tiny\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><div class=\"ast-oembed-container\" style=\"height: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Ichiro&#039;s Mariners Hall of Fame Induction: FULL SPEECH\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/fgossI-oZII?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cLou kissed me right here on the cheek,\u201d Ichiro said.  \u201cThe manager gave me a <em>biiiiig<\/em> wet kiss.  That doesn&#8217;t happen in Japan.  I was shocked.  Honestly, I was scared.  I thought to myself, &#8216;If this is a custom in America, I might not make it here.&#8217;\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Oh, he made it just fine.<\/p>\n<p>And 21 years later, Ichiro made it back to Seattle for a rousing induction ceremony as the newest member of the Mariners&#8217; Hall of Fame.  He&#8217;s the 10<sup>th<\/sup> member of the exclusive club, and the first to be inducted since Jamie Moyer in 2015.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though I retired as an active player, baseball and Seattle have never left my heart,\u201d Ichiro said.  \u201cBaseball will forever be my soul.  And my mission is to keep helping both players and fans appreciate this special game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Early on in the hourlong ceremony, the Mariners&#8217; newest star center fielder, Julio Rodriguez, emerged from the home dugout and delivered Ichiro a bouquet of flowers.  (Two hours later, Rodriguez delivered on the field with a solo home run in the third inning off Cleveland&#8217;s Zach Plesac, becoming the first Seattle player to reach 200 total bases in his first 110 career games since Ichiro in 2001. Talk about timing.)<\/p>\n<p>Ken Griffey Jr., the Mariners&#8217; greatest center fielder, closed out the ceremony by helping Ichiro slip on the Mariners&#8217; blue Hall of Fame jacket, as the crowd stood and chanted his name (\u201c<em>Ich-ee-roo!<\/em>\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>Ichiro and Griffey, teammates in 2009 and 2010, sat next to each other on the infield grass and watched as their playful commercial from 2010 was shown on the T-Mobile Park videoboard.  It was the commercial where Griffey, ever the prankster, puts glue on Ichiro&#8217;s folding chair.<\/p>\n<p>As the commercial ended, Ichiro turned to his right to look at Griffey.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI didn&#8217;t do it this time,\u201d Griffey told him, smiling.<\/p>\n<p>Ichiro thanked Griffey during his speech.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was my idol even before I came to America,\u201d Ichiro told the crowd.  \u201cBut in 2009, he returned to Seattle and I finally got to be his teammate.  Yes, he&#8217;s a joker.  But for me, he&#8217;s also a true professional.  He helped me in more ways than I can express.  Being his teammate is truly one of my career highlights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After 28 seasons of professional ball \u2014 nine in Japan and 19 in the majors \u2014 Ichiro retired in 2019 as the game&#8217;s all-time leader in hits, with 4,367.<\/p>\n<p>And he still looks like he might have a few more singles in him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI want our players to know I am with you in your fight to be the best,\u201d he said.  \u201cI was 27 years old when I came to Seattle.  I could never imagine my career in America last 19 seasons and that I will still be in Seattle today.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith that in mind, I would like to say to the current players: Your future has possibilities that you cannot imagine as well.  So embrace it by giving your best without imposing limits on yourself.  If a skinny, undersized guy from Japan can compete in this uniform, and then stand before you tonight to accept this honor, then there&#8217;s no reason you cannot do it (too).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Longtime Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs emceed the ceremony, and team chairman John Stanton introduced Ichiro, and both hit on the same sentiment: Saturday&#8217;s induction was just a warmup for what&#8217;s to come next.<\/p>\n<p>Ichiro is eligible for Baseball&#8217;s Hall of Fame in 2025, and there&#8217;s no doubt he&#8217;ll be a hit, again, during that induction ceremony.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lou Piniella, famously, was skeptical when Ichiro arrived from Japan for his first spring training with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Ichiro was skeptical of his new manager, too. During a 15-minute speech Saturday evening \u2014 conducted all in English before a sold-out crowd at T-Mobile Park \u2014 Ichiro revealed his sense of humor as &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-and-seattle-have-never-left-my-heart-ichiro-a-hit-during-mariners-hall-of-fame-induction\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">&#8216;Baseball and Seattle have never left my heart&#8217;: Ichiro a hit during Mariners&#8217; Hall of Fame induction<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58526,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/seattle-mariners-legend-ichiro-suzuki-reunites-with-ichiro-girl-during-first-pitch\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":0},"title":"Seattle Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki reunites with &#8216;Ichiro Girl&#8217; during first pitch","date":"August 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It's Ichiro Suzuki weekend in Seattle as the Mariners celebrate the franchise icon and induct him into the team's hall of fame on Saturday night -- certainly a prelude to his induction into Cooperstown in a few years. Before Friday's game, Ichiro was even in uniform, shagging flies in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58601,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mariners-kick-off-ichiro-weekend-with-the-most-wholesome-surprise-for-ichiro-girl\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":1},"title":"Mariners kick off &#8216;Ichiro Weekend&#8217; with the most wholesome surprise for &#8216;Ichiro Girl&#8217;","date":"August 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seattle Mariners know how to get in the spirit of \"Ichiro Weekend.\"With Ichiro Suzuki slated to enter the Mariners' Hall of Fame on Saturday, the team made a whole weekend out of the occasion and started it on Friday by bringing back one of their most famous fans, \"Ichiro\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":58979,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ichiro-suzuki-expresses-gratitude-as-he-enters-seattle-mariners-hall-of-fame\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":2},"title":"Ichiro Suzuki expresses gratitude as he enters Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame","date":"August 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"SEATTLE -- Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame on Saturday night, giving his entire 16-minute speech in English while reflecting on his career.Suzuki became the 10th member of Seattle's Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jamie Moyer, Jay Buhner and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57294,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/julio-rodriguez-extension-with-mariners\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":3},"title":"Julio Rodriguez extension with Mariners","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Star outfielder Julio Rodr\u00edguez is finalizing a long-term deal with the Mariners, a source told MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez on Friday. The deal, which includes player and team options, is expected to guarantee Rodr\u00edguez $210 million over 14 years and could exceed $400 million, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. The club\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":55826,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mariners-phone-it-in-nationals-pick-up-the-call-and-win-3-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":4},"title":"Mariners Phone It In, Nationals Pick up the Call and Win 3-1","date":"August 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Readers, allow me to take you back to a very specific memory I'm sure most of us share from the days when we were younger. I apologize to those this won't apply to \u2014 anyone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. Which is supposed to be me, but I maintain that I'm\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":41025,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/los-angeles-angels-shohei-ohtani-joins-babe-ruth-as-only-players-in-mlb-history-to-have-at-least-10-hrs-and-10-wins-in-same-season\/","url_meta":{"origin":58720,"position":5},"title":"Los Angeles Angels&#8217; Shohei Ohtani joins Babe Ruth as only players in MLB history to have at least 10 HRs and 10 wins in same season","date":"August 10, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"OAKLAND, Calif. -- Another home run, another pitching win, another spot in the history books. Just another night for Shohei Ohtani.The two-way sensation from Japan withstood another injury scare and pitched six scoreless innings to go with his team-leading 25th home run, reaching yet another monumental milestone as the Los\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.seattletimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/tzr_205534.jpg?d=1200x630","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58720"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58720\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}