{"id":58979,"date":"2022-08-28T18:10:05","date_gmt":"2022-08-28T18:10:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ichiro-suzuki-expresses-gratitude-as-he-enters-seattle-mariners-hall-of-fame\/"},"modified":"2022-08-28T18:10:05","modified_gmt":"2022-08-28T18:10:05","slug":"ichiro-suzuki-expresses-gratitude-as-he-enters-seattle-mariners-hall-of-fame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ichiro-suzuki-expresses-gratitude-as-he-enters-seattle-mariners-hall-of-fame\/","title":{"rendered":"Ichiro Suzuki expresses gratitude as he enters Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p>SEATTLE &#8212; 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.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki became the 10th member of Seattle&#8217;s Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jamie Moyer, Jay Buhner and Dan Wilson, who had previously been honored by the club.  All but Buhner were in attendance.<\/p>\n<p>Suzuki&#8217;s speech was one of the few times he&#8217;s spoken extensively in English in a public forum.  The ceremony also included video messages from several baseball stars including Mike Trout, Shohei Ohtani, Albert Pujols and Daisuke Matsuzaka.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline inline-photo full\">\n<figure><picture><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2022%2F0828%2Fr1054061_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=570&amp;format=jpg, https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2022%2F0828%2Fr1054061_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=1140&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(min-width: 376px)\"><source data-srcset=\"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2022%2F0828%2Fr1054061_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=375, https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2022%2F0828%2Fr1054061_1296x729_16%2D9.jpg&amp;w=750&amp;cquality=40&amp;format=jpg 2x\" media=\"(max-width: 375px)\"><img class=\" lazyload lazyload\" data-image-container=\".inline-photo\" height=\"320\" width=\"570\"\/><\/source><\/source><\/picture><figcaption class=\"photoCaption\">Ichiro Suzuki on Saturday became the 10th member of the Mariners&#8217; Hall of Fame. <cite>Alika Jenner\/Getty Images<\/cite><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Baseball Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch was also in attendance.  Suzuki will be eligible for induction into Cooperstown in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>Griffey and Suzuki sat next to each other during the ceremony.  The pair were teammates in Seattle during the 2009-10 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is a guy I like to call George. You know him as Ken Griffey Jr. He was my idol even before I came to America, but in 2009 he returned to Seattle and I finally got to be his teammate,&#8221; Suzuki said.  &#8220;Yes, he&#8217;s a jokester. 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.&#8221;<\/p>\n<aside class=\"inline editorial float-r\" data-behavior=\"article_related\">\n<ul>\n<li><\/li>\n<li><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/a.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2022\/0716\/r1036851_683x683_1-1.jpg&amp;w=130&amp;h=130&amp;scale=crop&amp;location=center\" width=\"65\" height=\"65\"\/><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>1 Related<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Suzuki spent the first 11 seasons of his major league career with the Mariners before getting traded to the New York Yankees midway through the 2012 season.  Suzuki played parts of three seasons with the Yankees and three more in Miami before returning to Seattle to close out his career.<\/p>\n<p>His final appearance came at the beginning of the 2019 season when Seattle opened with two games in Japan.  Suzuki announced his retirement after the second game.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s spent the past several years as a special assistant to the chairman for the Mariners and regularly is in uniform and working with players or fielding balls during batting practice.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I was 27 years old when I came to Seattle. I could never imagine my career in America would last 19 seasons and that I would still be in Seattle today,&#8221; Suzuki said.  &#8220;With 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.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;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 either.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SEATTLE &#8212; 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&#8217;s Hall of Fame, joining former teammates Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, Jamie Moyer, Jay Buhner and Dan Wilson, who had &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ichiro-suzuki-expresses-gratitude-as-he-enters-seattle-mariners-hall-of-fame\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ichiro Suzuki expresses gratitude as he enters Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame<\/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":[661,46,3443],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58601,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/mariners-kick-off-ichiro-weekend-with-the-most-wholesome-surprise-for-ichiro-girl\/","url_meta":{"origin":58979,"position":0},"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":58526,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/seattle-mariners-legend-ichiro-suzuki-reunites-with-ichiro-girl-during-first-pitch\/","url_meta":{"origin":58979,"position":1},"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":58720,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/baseball-and-seattle-have-never-left-my-heart-ichiro-a-hit-during-mariners-hall-of-fame-induction\/","url_meta":{"origin":58979,"position":2},"title":"&#8216;Baseball and Seattle have never left my heart&#8217;: Ichiro a hit during Mariners&#8217; Hall of Fame induction","date":"August 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"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\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":58979,"position":3},"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":57294,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/julio-rodriguez-extension-with-mariners\/","url_meta":{"origin":58979,"position":4},"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":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/a1.espncdn.com\/combiner\/i?img=\/photo\/2022\/0828\/r1054061_1296x729_16-9.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58979"}],"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=58979"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58979\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}