November 6
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Mariners had much go wrong from start to finish in 2008, but they got a couple of postseason honors when third baseman Adrian Beltre and outfielder Ichiro Suzuki were honored with Gold Gloves, tokens of defensive excellence. It was the second consecutive Gold Glove for Beltre, who spent the season battling thumb and shoulder pain and who ended his season early to have two surgeries. For Ichiro, it is the eighth time in eight years he has earned a Gold Glove. And it was the second time in three years that he'd won after changing positions midseason. He began the season in center field, then moved to right field about 10 weeks into the season. "I take it to heart that this award is given ..."
October 20
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Don't plan on seeing much of Ichiro Suzuki at spring training next year. Ichiro told the Kyodo News Service on Sunday that he plans on playing for Team Japan in the World Baseball Classic next spring. "I will try to win the WBC in earnest again," Ichiro told Kyodo. Three years ago, when Japan won the inaugural WBC, Ichiro started the year in Japan and not in Peoria, Ariz., with the Mariners. With Japan advancing to the finals, the right fielder didn't join the Mariners until the last two weeks of March. This year, Major League Baseball is handling the World Baseball Classic differently, starting spring training earlier and having Cactus League games stretch into the first week of April ..."
September 18
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Mariners were gifted with two tremendously satisfying performances Wednesday night. That they lost the game, anyway, says everything about their season. Ryan Rowland-Smith turned in his sixth consecutive quality start, and Ichiro Suzuki went where only one man had gone before by getting 200 hits for the eighth consecutive year. It added up to another Mariners loss, 5-2 to the Royals. It's the Mariners' seventh consecutive loss on the final road trip of the year. It would have been nice for Ichiro, Rowland-Smith and their teammates to pull this one out and enjoy a sense of shared accomplishment for one night. It didn't happen. Rowland-Smith's six innings of one-run ball gave the ..."
September 15
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro Suzuki doesn't have a closer friend on the Mariners than Raul Ibanez. Their lockers are adjacent in the Safeco Field clubhouse. Ichiro has taught Ibanez some Japanese. Ibanez has taught Ichiro some Spanish. And as the 2008 season runs into its final two weeks, Ichiro doesn't have a closer competitor on the roster, either. Ichiro has finished each of his first seven seasons as the Mariners' leader in batting average. The discrepancy between Ichiro and whoever was in second was seldom close. This year, however, Ibanez enters the final two weeks with a .312 batting average after going 1-for-5 on Sunday. Ichiro, also 1-for-5 on Sunday, is at .311. And while Ichiro is almost certain to ..."
August 8
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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In the past month, Ichiro Suzuki has stolen exactly one base, hardly what you expect from someone who at one point was on pace to steal 60-plus bases. The Seattle right fielder makes a joke of it, saying "I've put on weight" since picking up his 34th stolen base on July 5. It's clear that the American League doesn't joke around when Ichiro is on first base. Pitchers are quickening their deliveries to the plate and using a slidestep motion to try to deter him from running. "It's almost like a memo went out to all the other clubs," manager Jim Riggleman said. "They're all doing the same, pitching quick and slidestepping." Ichiro, who has been caught just three times in 38 attempts, prides ..."
July 29
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro Suzuki still needs one hit to reach 3,000 for his professional career. The Mariners' perennial All-Star outfielder finished a nine-year run in Japan with 1,889 hits before coming to Seattle in November 2000. Now in his eighth big league season, Suzuki, 34, has gotten at least 200 hits each year, leading the American League on four occasions, and has the most total hits in the majors since joining the Mariners. "It's a tremendous accomplishment," Mariners manager Jim Riggleman said. "The short time he's been over here, to have this many hits in the states is amazing. In the history of the game, and everybody who has ever played the game, to play this many games and have this many ..."
July 28
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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The Mariners were out in full force Sunday as one of their own, Dave Niehaus, was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame. The question might rightly be asked, when will they be back in such numbers again? It's possible it will happen in 2010. That's the year Edgar Martinez first becomes eligible for the Hall of Fame. Or it could happen sometimes in the next decade, when Ichiro's reign as the most successful Japanese transplant has been over for the requisite five years and his turn to be on the ballot that's sent to the Baseball Writers Association of America each December. Although it's the writers who do the voting, it's the members of the Hall of Fame who best know what it takes to get a ..."
July 17
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
columnist Jim Moore
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During last month's news conference announcing the firing of general manager Bill Bavasi, Mariners CEO Howard Lincoln said he was open to trading anyone on the team. If that's the case, the Mariners should deal Ichiro Suzuki by the July 31 deadline. If I'm Lincoln, I'm telling interim GM Lee Pelekoudas to gauge the interest in his All-Star right fielder to see if he can get an ace and/or prospects in return. Nothing against Ichiro, but isn't it time to blow this thing up and start over? Realizing they had no shot at an NBA championship, the Sonics dealt Ray Allen to Boston and began a process that will someday turn Oklahoma City into a perennial contender. When you blow things up, ..."
June 19
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro Suzuki's sudden return to right field this week has raised plenty of questions, but on Wednesday, Mariners manager John McLaren emphatically answered one of the more prevalent ones: Coming as it did on the day general manager Bill Bavasi was fired, was the move directed by the team? "Nothing whatsoever has been dictated from up top. Nothing. Ever," McLaren said. "They've left me alone, and I respect that and I appreciate that. The Ichiro thing is something I've been thinking about a long time, and I just went with it.""
June 16
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro Suzuki had two hits Sunday, the only Mariners hitter to do so. He drove in a run, the only Mariner to do so. And yet for the center fielder, it was another day on which his game didn't measure up to his expectations. Part of that is because his expectations are tied in with his expectations for his team, and the Mariners just got swept by Washington, the worst team in the National League. Ichiro is hitting .295, good for most hitters but, based on his history, not good for Ichiro."
March 1
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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If he stays healthy and productive, Ichiro Suzuki will become the youngest player to reach 3,000 career hits. He had 1,278 hits in Japan before coming to the Mariners in 2001, and he has 1,592 hits since journeying across the Pacific."
February 21
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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When he agreed at the 2007 All-Star break to a five-year contract extension, Ichiro Suzuki did it with an implicit understanding the front office would make the Mariners a better team. He was more than willing to stay, but he didn't want to play for a losing franchise. To that point, the Mariners had had three consecutive losing seasons but were halfway through a season that ended with them 14 games over .500."