Seattle return ends fittingly with long ball
Ichiro Suzuki — not to mention the more than 27,000 in attendance at Seattle’s Safeco Field — will never forget the ninth inning of the Miami Marlins’ otherwise nondescript 10- 5 loss to the Mariners on Wednesday.
In his last at- bat of the year — and maybe ever — at Safeco, Ichiro ripped a fastball up in the zone, planting it just beyond the right- field wall, his 3,033rd major league hit and his first home run against the Mariners.
That sent the Seattle crowd into an excited frenzy, arguably the loudest the ballpark got all week. Fans continued chants of “Ich- i- ro! Ich- i- ro!” several minutes after his trip around the bases.
“I had to pinch myself to make sure that really happened,” Ichiro told Tim Healey of the Sun Sentinel in Orlando, Fla.
“I was sitting on the bench and I said, ‘ Of course he did that,’ ” teammate Christian Yelich said. “What else would he do in a moment like that? It was pretty cool to see and pretty special. It’s one of those things where special players do special things.”
“He’s the king, man,” pitcher Edinson Volquez added. “He got so much love in this ballpark. … It was great to see him hit a homer today for his friends, for the team and for himself.”
Ichiro, 43, spent the first 11 1/ 2 seasons of his major league career with the Mariners, playing his home games at Safeco, and this week marked his first games back since 2014. He said he hopes to return as a player again, whenever that may be.
“I just thought it was the last game this time, this series,” Ichiro said. “I think I’ll be back. Whenever the next game is here again, I hope to be back.”
Ichiro traded a signed bat and ball for the home- run baseball when a fan offered it to him, noting that “this will be a memorable something to hold onto.”