Mariners retire Ichiro’s No. 51, announce statue: ‘The highest honor’
Dan Wilson met Ichiro on a Peoria, Ariz., ballfield in the opening days of Spring Training 2001, now more than 24 years ago — but Seattle’s catcher-turned-manager remembers his first interaction with a future legend like it was yesterday.
If anything, Wilson was empathetic. He watched as a 27-year-old rookie and Japanese sensation arrived stateside with the weight of an entire nation on his shoulders, the first Japanese-born position player in the history of the major leagues. Hordes of reporters and media members closely followed his every move, chronicling the story of a legend that lasted 19 years.
“There was just a lot of unknown,” Wilson recalled, “(but) he was able to go out and perform even throughout all of that.”
From his first swings in navy blue and northwest green, Wilson and Co. knew just how special their new teammate was. The bat and barrel control. The ability to hit to all fields. An underrated and underappreciated level of strength and launch. And when Ichiro put on his glove and jogged to the outfield, he was equally mesmerizing — the winner of 10 straight American League Gold Glove Awards.
“I said all along as a player that I was very fortunate to be in Seattle during a time when there were so many great players,” Wilson told reporters on Saturday afternoon. “Great players make other players around them better, and I feel like I was a direct recipient of that.
“All of those guys (Edgar Martinez, Ken Griffey Jr., Ichiro) challenged all of us, and we’re better for it. It’s just a fitting honor that (Ichiro’s) number will be out there (in center field) with all of theirs.”
Ichiro Suzuki was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2025 in Cooperstown, New York, on July 27, delivering a personable and comedically-timed 19-minute speech entirely in English.
Now, the No. 51 he made legendary has taken its rightful place.
The Mariners retired Ichiro’s number in Saturday’s pregame ceremony at T-Mobile Park, honoring one of the greatest players to ever don a Seattle uniform. He joins Ken Griffey Jr. (24), Edgar Martinez (11), and Jackie Robinson (42, retired by every MLB team) as the only numbers retired in Mariners history, soon to be joined by Randy Johnson’s No. 51 in 2026.
A sellout crowd packed the park as team executives, Mariners Hall of Famers, and Ichiro’s wife, Yumiko Fukushima, took their seats behind the infield podium to ovations. Seattle baseball royalty sat side by side — from Alvin Davis, Jay Buhner, Felix Hernandez, and Wilson to Johnson, Martinez, and Griffey Jr.
Suspense built for the man of the hour’s big reveal as the center field wall opened and Ichiro appeared, a legend’s welcome as chants echoed: “I-CHI-RO! I-CHI-RO!”
His first words: “What’s up, Seattle?”
Seattle roared back.
“I am so grateful to be here today to receive this highest of honors,” Ichiro continued. “But, whose idea was it to have me give two speeches in English in two weeks?”
Ichiro was the American League’s Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in 2001, a foundational contributor in Seattle’s record-breaking, 116-win season. He set MLB’s all-time single-season hit record (262) in 2004 and won two AL batting titles, three AL Silver Slugger Awards, and was a 10-time AL All-Star.
Mariners pitcher Bryan Woo, among others, took the field for pregame warmups in a throwback Ichiro uniform. Star center fielder Julio Rodriguez posted photos of today’s outfit on Instagram — a custom, one-of-one Ichiro jersey with All-Star and 3,000-hit sleeve patches.
“I am also grateful for the actions of another person who is here — Randy Johnson,” Ichiro continued. “He was No. 51 long before I ever arrived in Seattle. Without his generosity, I could not have worn that number here.
“The Orix Blue Wave assigned me a number when they drafted me in 1991. It just happened that it was No. 51. For nine years in Japan, that is the only number I ever had. By the time I came to Seattle, 51 was part of my identity, but I knew that number already had a rich history here.
“When you saw 51 in Seattle, you knew it meant Randy Johnson for his many great achievements from 1989-1998 in that uniform. When I came here in 2001, I couldn’t have worn that number without his consent. He gave it, and he gave it graciously.
“When the Mariners decided to retire No. 51, they chose to have two separate ceremonies, one for each of us. I’m grateful to Randy for attending my ceremony today. It will be my great honor to attend his next season.”
On Friday night, the Russell Investments Center in Downtown Seattle displayed Ichiro’s No. 51 by illuminating building windows after sunset. The Mariners made Ichiro’s official Hall of Fame plaque available for fan viewing on Friday and Saturday before its departure to Cooperstown, part of a homestand chock-full of festivities honoring the all-time great.
“It is extremely rare that a Hall of Fame plaque leaves Cooperstown,” Hall of Fame president Josh Rawitch said in a Mariners statement. “This may be the only time Ichiro’s Hall of Fame plaque is ever removed from its permanent display.”
Since Ichiro’s storybook retirement in Tokyo, Japan in March 2019, the 51-year-old has served as the Mariners Special Assistant to the Chairman, a constant voice and mentor for the players who grew up idolizing him.
Ichiro directed his closing statements at the current group of Mariners watching from the home dugout:
“You guys are strong and talented. Please, do not take your talent for granted. You have a great team and a great opportunity in front of you. I understand there’s pressure to win… but accept the pressure, and figure out how you can perform your best under pressure.
“Although I can no longer help you with a hit or a laser-beam throw, my will and desire is always there for you.
“I come to the field every day because I want to help you be prepared for the moment. I am confident you can seize the moment.
“Now, let’s play ball!”
MARINERS TO UNVEIL ICHIRO SUZUKI STATUE IN 2026
Before Ichiro delivered remarks in Saturday’s pregame ceremony, team chairman John Stanton broke the news: The Mariners are honoring the Hall of Fame outfielder with a statue featuring his iconic batting stance, to be unveiled during the 2026 season.
“In 2026, we will honor the most prolific hitter our game has ever seen — the man who holds the all-time record for hits in a season; the man who has more global hits than any other player in the history of baseball,” Stanton said at the podium. “Next year, to celebrate his transcendent international role in baseball and his leadership of the Seattle Mariners, we will build a statue of Ichiro Suzuki.”
He will join legendary broadcaster Dave Niehaus (2011), Ken Griffey Jr. (2017), and Edgar Martinez (2021) as the fourth person immortalized with a T-Mobile Park statue.
RALEIGH, RODRIGUEZ HOMER IN 7-4 WIN OVER RAYS
Cal Raleigh launched his major league-leading 44th home run of the season, Julio Rodriguez delivered a two-homer game, and the Seattle Mariners dismantled the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-4, for their sixth-straight win on Saturday night.
Every Mariner stood on the dugout’s top step throughout Ichiro’s number retirement ceremony, and Rodriguez took the legend’s direct comments to heart — demolishing a two-run homer in the first inning and adding a line-drive solo shot down the left field line in the third.
“There’s going to be a lot of moments we’re going to have to seize if we want to get where we want to get,” Rodriguez said. “Every player knows how much weight (Ichiro’s) words carry, because he does it every day. He’s still here, showing up for us every day. I feel like a lot of the guys probably felt the same way.
“It’s just coming from such a special person, and it meant a lot to us.”
Mariners starter Logan Evans threw 5.1 strong frames in front of a sold-out crowd of 45,249, having allowed three hits and one earned run with three walks and four strikeouts when he walked off the mound in the sixth inning. Seattle’s Caleb Ferguson entered and immediately surrendered a three-run homer to Tampa Bay’s Junior Caminero, adding two earned runs to Evans’ total.
“It’s one of the coolest things I’ve ever done,” Evans said of the starting nod on Ichiro’s night. “I got to say congratulations to him prior to going out in the first inning, and he just wished me luck.
“I was like, ‘That’s Ichiro right there.’ This is his night, so I wanted to honor him and honor the whole organization and city.”
Raleigh blasted a three-run homer on Rays starter Joe Boyle’s 51st pitch that ballooned the score in the third inning, 5-1, sending T-Mobile Park’s sellout crowd into a frenzy. Rodriguez rifled his left-field laser beam on Boyle’s next offering.
Second baseman Cole Young, who became the youngest player in Mariners history (22 years, 11 days) with four walks in a game, scored Seattle’s seventh run on a wild pitch in the sixth inning.
Shortstop J.P. Crawford’s 17-pitch at-bat in the sixth tied the longest in club history.
Here come the Mariners: Seattle’s sixth consecutive win lifts them to within one-half of a game behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros, setting the stage for an exciting division race over the regular season’s final 44 games. And it helps having a Hall of Fame mentor like Ichiro behind the scenes.
“(Ichiro) never quit on himself,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of people doubted him, said he might not be able to play here, might not be able to fit in. But he didn’t even need to fit in.
“I feel like there are so many people worrying about fitting in and looking like the person next to (you). That’s something (Ichiro) did better than anybody else. He was the first position player (from Japan) and a lot of people doubted him. He just said, ‘I’m doing the little things consistently.’ Look where it got him. They just retired his number today. I really take that to heart. He didn’t really try to fit in. He kept doing his same pose, kept doing his same routines… and look where it got him.
“Don’t try to fit in. Be yourself, try to do the little things consistently, and see where it takes you.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2025 at 7:46 PM with the headline "Mariners retire Ichiro’s No. 51, announce statue: ‘The highest honor’."
