I thought that something incredibly odd was going to happen on Monday night in Seattle, but when it finally came around it almost seemed like it was always destined to be.
On Monday night, after a mid-afternoon trade between the Mariners and Yankees, Ichiro Suzuki made his debut with the Yankees at the stadium he had called home his entire MLB career, Safeco Park.
The thing was Ichiro didn’t look out of place in the pinstripes or in the Yankees’ lineup.
Maybe it’s because he would always end up there whenever you played franchise mode in any baseball game since the mode was invented. Maybe it’s because a player of Ichiro’s calibre was never meant to struggle with a perpetually rebuilding team in the twilight of his career.
Now, one of the best pure hitters of his generation has a legitimate chance to get that elusive World Series ring with the current regular-season leaders. He even fits a role in the Yankees team very nicely seeing how resident New York speedster Brett Gardiner is likely out for the rest of the season. The only question will be is if Ichiro, who has played the vast majority of his career in right field, will adapt smoothly to left field.
But if that’s the biggest concern for New York about this steal of trade, well they made out pretty well.