What Ichiro Has Meant to Me and Baseball as a Whole

(Dean Rutz / The Seattle Times)

At 6:00 AM on an early Thursday morning, I was up in bed watching the Seattle Mariners finish off a two-game series with the Oakland A's. Now, I love the Mariners and am happy that the regular season has begun (kind of), but there was only one reason I stayed up to watch the end of this game, Ichiro.

Some of my earliest memories watching the Mariners play baseball revolve around the Japanese star slapping ground balls slowly to the shortstop and beating them out for base hits. This wasn't strange to me, although the other players didn't play like Ichiro, because I didn't know any better, he played the way I thought the game should be, with heart and hustle.

Being honest, as Ichiro walked towards the Mariners dugout at the start of the bottom of the 8th inning, knowing it was the end of an era, I got a little misty eyed. And seeing Yusei Kikuchi with tears in his eyes as he hugged Ichiro didn't help any.

But as I reflected on this interaction, I realize how much it symbolizes not just how much Ichiro means to Japanese baseball players, but how much he means to baseball as a whole. Kikuchi grew up idolizing Ichiro, and Ichiro gave him the confidence to work as hard as possible and make it to the Major League.

Although Hideo Nomo is considered the first Japanese baseball player to really breakout in the Major Leagues about five years before Ichiro, Ichiro was the first to show that Japanese players can hit against major league pitchers, opening the door for players like Hideki Matsui, Shohei Ohtani, and many more.

Because of this, baseball owes so much to Ichiro and his tremendous talent, opening up a world of talent that without him, may have never had the opportunity to shine in the world of Major League Baseball.

So, although Ichiro has a special place in my heart, being a Mariners fan. He deserves everything he has coming to him, a shoe-in first ballot hall-of-famer (and should be unanimous), his number retired by the Mariners, and all the praise in the world from people far more qualified than me.

On the day of his announced retirement, a day that will change baseball forever, I think it is the perfect time to say this: thank you, Ichiro.