“Lou Piniella was very skeptical,” said Larry Stone, a Seattle Times baseball writer who has covered Ichiro’s career extensively. “That spring training, Ichiro started off not pulling the ball, not driving the ball. And Lou was like, ‘Who is this guy? When is he going to show me something?’”

Ichiro’s charisma accompanied an incredible performance on the field, one that came with no discernable adjustment period. Among his many accomplishments, he became only the second player in Major League history to win his league’s Rookie of the Year Award and MVP Award in the same year, joining Boston's Fred Lynn (1975).

On the front page of the Seattle Times Sunday, you can get a 1,500-word helping of immersive Ichiro insight from Larry Stone, who watched the soon-to-be Hall of Famer from the front row in Seattle for 11 years.

This weekend, Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki will become the first Asian player inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

As Ichiro Suzuki prepares to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame as the headliner of the 2025 class, he will do so in a reflective stage of life and one in which his sole focus centered on the sport is about giving back.

Christian Yelich brings a different perspective than Carroll or Kwan. Yelich played three seasons as Ichiro’s teammate in Miami. He remembered playing catch with Ichiro the day after he collected his 3,000th hit in the majors, one of those pinch-me kind of moments.