It was a bouncing ball, one that the pitcher probably could have gotten before it hopped and skidded left of second base and into the outfield. On its face, it did not look like anything special. It was a routine single.
But that hit on April 2, 2001 has a place in history as Ichiro Suzuki's first in Major League Baseball.
More than 15 years have passed since that night Ichiro debuted for the Seattle Mariners. His pursuit of 3,000 hits brought him to the Miami Marlins, and stretching in the clubhouse before a recent game, he looked back on that first night _ and why the hit was so important.
"All of Japan, you know, their eyes were on me," Ichiro reflected through a translator. "A lot of them (didn't) know much about Major League Baseball, and if I struggled the first few games, they might say, 'Oh, you know, I can't make it here,' or something.
"So there is pressure. That game kind of had more pressure to a game than it usually does."
It was the seventh inning at Safeco Field when Ichiro slapped the bouncer past Oakland Athletics reliever T.J. Mathews and cruised into first base. He unstrapped his elbow pad and handed it to his first-base coach, then stood next to Jason Giambi at first base.
He couldn't have known just how many times he would make that same trip throughout his career.
"I just remember getting that hit and how important that was," Ichiro said. "Obviously, the first few games were important just because nobody knew who I was. But that was kind of the beginning of it all."
While Ichiro's memory implies a certain level of anonymity, Mathews remembers Ichiro's reputation a little differently as the Japanese star began his career in the United States.
"Going through the scouting reports on him, and I remember it very clearly, it was very similar to the scouting report on Tony Gwynn," Mathews said in a recent phone interview. "He's gonna hit the ball, and he's very rarely gonna strike out."
With the A's holding a 4-2 lead after six and a half innings, Ichiro led off the bottom of the seventh against Mathews. After smacking his first base hit, he came around to score in an inning that saw the Mariners tie the game at four.
Then, in the next inning, Ichiro reached on a bunt single that advanced Carlos Guillen _ who scored the eventual winning run in the first of Seattle's record 116 victories that season.
The gravity of that game and Ichiro's historic hit have not escaped Mathews.
"I kind of like to think I'm responsible for his career here in the United States," he joked.
The first Japanese position player in the majors, Ichiro had come up empty in his first three at-bats of that game. Oakland starter Tim Hudson retired the 27-year-old rookie by way of two groundouts and a strikeout.
With Ichiro, as is the case with many other universally respected hitters, pitchers like Hudson have come to play a supporting role in his legend. Their first meeting captured what would be a defining narrative of their careers against each other.
According to baseball-reference.com, Ichiro notched just 15 hits in 69 at bats against Hudson _ a .217 average, almost 100 points lower than his career mark.
"I can say that he's definitely the toughest _ mentally _ pitcher that I've ever faced," Ichiro said of Hudson.
Ryan Vogelsong has faced Ichiro the most times (15) of any pitcher without giving up a hit, while John Lackey has faced him the most times (129), given up the most hits (37), and is tied with James Shields for the most times striking him out. Mark Buehrle faced him 70 times, and yet Ichiro still hit .409 against him.
Mathews only faced Ichiro one more time after that initial meeting and got him out. He surely would have preferred to retire Ichiro in that first at-bat, too, but instead he is forever tied to the legend of one of baseball's greats.
It's not a bad consolation prize.
"He's one of the best hitters ever," Mathews said. "I don't care if it's Japan or the United States. He's right up there with the best of the best."
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