The Day Japan Took Over MLB

Ichiro's first year in major league baseball was as much of a mystery box as it was a sure thing when he made his debut. Many questioned how his immense ability in NPB would translate to a major league career, but on an April night in Texas, Ichiro left no questions standing.

CORRECTIONS/NOTES:
•For the throw comparison, I shouldve used ranges for both distance and speed since I was approximating Ichiro’s placement on the throw as well as the timing of his throw in Arlington. Consider the speed of his Star Wars throw to be in the 80-84 MPH range and his Arlington throw in the 90-93 MPH range.
• I refer to NPB as “The NPB” a few times. Similar to MLB it should not have a “the” in front of it unless I said the full acronym NPBL (Nippon Professional Baseball League)

Sources:

Tracklist
Middle Mgmt - 終​わ​り​か​ら
Dawson - Late Night Drive
cdrill - Drop Gem
Tsugaru Shamisen (using Ripple) - Tsugaru Jongara-bushi Kyokubiki
Dawson - High Times
Middle Mgmt - Channel
New Frontiers - Celestial Bodies
Terror Firma - Still Here
Dawson - Alki
intylekt - Be Coo Boo
Xtreme Racer OST - Alpine Glow
Middle Mgmt - static
Dawson - Head Bob N
Rage Racer OST - Lightning Luge
ChrisLody - Cassette Master
Vermillion - Lead Pipe Dreams
Ronin Blade OST - Boss Monster Karasu
Dreamstate Logic - Endless Shores
Weltall - Glissade
Coaltar of the De*pers - Recieve Assimil*tion
Estavan rodrigo - When You're Hot
Ben Gibbard - Ichiro's Theme

Time Stamps
Intro 0:00
Alex Rodriguez and his quest to break free agency 0:52
Ichiro and his quest towards MLB stardom 2:26
Start of Game 7:53
The Early 2000s Rangers Were Weird 10:06
Ichiro Doesn't Waste Your Time 11:29
Speed Kills 13:27
Mariners Cruising 15:44
The Arm of Ichiro 17:04
Rangers' Comeback 20:30
The Signature Moment 22:07
Outro 23:39

[jimharper]

Ichiro began his MLB career at the age of 27 and finished his career with 3089 hits.

Here’s how many hits these players collected after their age-27 season:
Derek Jeter — 2457
Tony Gwynn — 2371
Cal Ripken Jr. — 2100
Rod Carew — 2208
Miguel Cabrera — 1954

Ichiro is in a category of his own.

[betodrift]

Foolish and NMF dropped the same day at the same time, life is good

[cobrallama]

My favorite Ichiro moment is when he walked off Mariano Rivera on the first pitch of the AB in '09, for his first MLB walkoff homerun! And it was a 2-run come from behind homerun with 2 outs!

[Junker.]

Genuinely amazed that I've never heard about that Ichirio throw to Olerud. Another masterpiece by my favorite musician that's also a part time baseball content creator

[Karmy.]

9:21 Immaculate Grid legend Mark McLemore

[justmaxproductions]

my favorite Ichiro moment was his running catch to rob Albert Pujols of extra bases and preserving Jamie Moyer's 1-2-3 inning in the 2003 All Star Game

[Azeria]

I can’t wait to see 51 retired in Seattle, especially given it wasn’t just worn by Ichiro but by Randy Johnson as well.

It’ll look pretty damn good on that wall next to Jackie’s 42, the kid’s 24, and Edgar’s 11.

[GForce]

Been a Mariners fan since the Dorktown doc, really got me into baseball. Now I’m a die hard Ichiro, KGJ, and Randy Johnson fan

[shiftygypsymigh]

Ichiro is absolutely top 3 of my favorite players. He was a blast to watch and fun to listen to.

[TheTEN]

Best bat to ball hitter of all time I’m so glad I got to watch ichiro play in his prime awesome vid man

[DRay]

Talk about picking your spots. Ichiro knew exactly how the last AB was gonna end. Hats off for the vid always two thumbs up.

[SIGuy]

I wish the posting system stared earlier. so many great players could have came over MLB history would be completely different

[jonathanmartin]

As a Cleveland fan, I had the opportunity to see Ichiro numerous times live. He was alot of fun to watch. He was entertaining.

[coolbreeze]

Ichiro is a top 5 OF of all time prolly top 3

[Yo_AB_Breaks]

Dude. Sick vid! Thank you vm for the content.

[BsedMan-iftb]

Bro the part with ichiro cursing was hilarious

[jonmiller]

Phenomenal video my man. It won't be long before you get to quit that day job (if you have one). Keep it up!

[owl-vibes]

No More Fielders doing a Ichiro video? Automatic like!

[SeanZheng-wo]

quibble: the long bar in イチロー follows the direction of the writing. if it's top to bottom, the bar goes downwards. (something something, extends the prior vowel, blah blah nerd shit)
good vid i enjoy watching ichiro appreciation

[timbo]

25:10 what player is he talking about? i can’t tell who it is