Seattle Mariners Manager Shares Favorite Memory of National Baseball Hall of Famer

SEATTLE — This weekend will be all about Ichiro Suzuki at T-Mobile Park.

During the Seattle Mariners' series against the Tampa Bay Rays, there will be several festivities and giveaways to honor the 2025 National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee, who spent 14 seasons in the Pacific Northwest out of 19 played in the major leagues from 2001-12 and 2018-19.

Suzuki's trademark "No. 51" is carved into the grass in center field for the weekend and his jersey will be retired by the organization in a pregame ceremony Saturday. Suzuki will join Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez and Jackie Robinson as the only players to have their numbers retired by the Mariners.

Suzuki made MLB history as the first Japanese-born position player to come stateside and play on a major league club. In 2001, he became one of two players in MLB history to win Rookie of The Year and MVP in the same season. He set MLB's single-season hit record with 262 knocks in 2004.

Being the first Japanese-born position player in baseball, Suzuki received his fair share of media attention, especially early in his career.

"It makes you marvel at what he was able to do his first year despite everything else that was going on off the field, as well," Seattle manager Dan Wilson said before a game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. " ... To throw out that first year that he did, and still have to manage that — that didn't go away overnight, either. It was a big part of his career, I think, for a long period of time. He was an exceptional player just by what he could do on the field, what he could do with a bat in his hand. But we've seen, in listening to his (Hall of Fame) speech — he's an exceptional individual, too."