SEATTLE – It was a hero’s welcome crossed with the treatment of a movie star.
Ichiro Suzuki got to walk the red carpet to home plate on Monday night at Safeco Field prior to the Marlins game against the Seattle Mariners when his former team honored his achievement of surpassing 3,000 career major league hits.
Ichiro joked after the game that he was glad the city and team for which he played his first 12 seasons in the major leagues still remembered him.
"It’s been so long that I could’ve been forgotten," Ichiro said. "For them to do that for me, I’m very thankful.