Seattle Mariners Post Emotional Video Showing Fans Appreciation For Ichiro Suzuki
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Before a game in against the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, the Seattle Mariners will honor one of the greatest players in MLB history.
In a pregame ceremony, the Mariners will retire Ichiro Suzuki's No. 51. He will become the fourth player in franchise history to have his uniform retired, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (No. 24), Edgar Martinez (No. 11) and Jackie Robinson (No. 42).
Suzuki's jersey retirement comes less than a month after he was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He was the first Japanese-born player to be enshrined in Cooperstown, N.Y., and was one vote away from being the second-ever unanimous Hall of Fame inductee in MLB history.
Hours before Suzuki's number retirement ceremony, Seattle shared a heartwarming video on social media showing how much the former MVP has meant to fans.
For weeks, the Mariners have been gathering emails, letters and phone calls from fans in which they explain what Suzuki meant to them. Seattle posted a video on social media showing the collection of letters and emails and played audio from several voicemails.
Fans messaged the organization from all over the country, and even outside the U.S. Among the locations mentioned and shown in the video were Spokane, Wash.; London, U.K.; Honolulu and, of course, Seattle.
Dear Ichiro... pic.twitter.com/0fkaNTdm0w
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) August 9, 2025
Suzuki spent 14 of his 19 major league seasons with the Mariners from 2001-12 and 2018-19. He became the second player in MLB history to win Rookie of The Year and MVP in the same season in 2001. In 2004, he set the MLB's single-season hit record with 262.
Suzuki was a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, three-time Silver Slugger winner, American League stolen base leader (2001) and two-time AL batting champion (2001, '04).
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