Seattle Mariners: The return of Ichiro

It was all smiles and laughs for the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. With most of the team headed to Tempe, Ariz., to take on the Los Angeles Angels in an official Spring Training contest, the remaining crew held a simulated game at home camp in Peoria. Seattle needed a few extra bodies to fill out the lineup card and none other than Ichiro Suzuki and Mike Cameron jumped in to help out.

The pair of Mariners greats saw playing time in the field and even took live at-bats throughout the contest.

Seattle Mariners: Ichiro returns to action

Seeing Ichiro and Cameron standing next to each other in the outfield brings a flood of fond memories for Seattle fans. The two manned the Mariners’ outfield from 2001-03, some of the most successful years in franchise history. In those three seasons, Seattle notched 302 wins and one ALCS appearance.

Ichiro is arguably the most beloved player in Seattle’s franchise history. The 47-year-old retired in 2019 during a ceremonious showcase game in his home country of Japan. He spent 19 seasons in the MLB, 14 with the Mariners, and recorded more than 3,000 hits and 780 RBIs throughout his Hall of Fame career.

The all-time MLB great saw one at-bat against Seattle’s ace Marco Gonzales, flying out to left field.

The 48-year-old Cameron saw two at-bats, going 0-for-2, including a fly-out to left field as well. Cameron spent 17 years in the MLB from 1995-2011 while notching 1,700 career hits and nearly 1,000 RBIs. He spent four seasons with the Mariners.

Both Ichiro and Cameron are in Seattle’s Spring Training camp as special assistant coaches, working with players during certain workouts.

Seattle Mariners manager Scott Servais was thrilled for the reunion game but still joked about their performances at the plate.

“Those are all-time Mariners greats, and they add a lot to our camp — they just don’t have the bat speed they once had,” Servais said, smiling.