Ichiro snags TYIB defensive honor

12/15/2005
Ichiro Suzuki is well known for his bat, but he might be even more consistent with his glove.
About a month after being awarded his fifth straight Gold Glove, the Seattle Mariners' celebrated right fielder took home another piece of hardware, nabbing the "Best Defensive Player" honor in MLB.com's 2005 This Year in Baseball Awards.
Seattle finished the season with the fewest errors (86) in the American League and Ichiro was a big reason for that statistic. The Japanese native made two errors in 393 total chances and had 10 assists, the third straight year he reached double digits in that category.
As a team, the Mariners logged a .986 fielding percentage, which tied for the Major League lead with the Atlanta Braves, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Oakland A's. The Mariners tied Atlanta with 86 total errors, the fewest in the Majors in 2005.
And as for Ichiro, he continued a dazzling career that's only five years strong in the United States.
During his 779 games over five seasons with Seattle, Ichiro has made just 11 errors in 1,819 total chances -- all but eight of the chances coming as right fielder. His .994 fielding percentage is the highest among Major League outfielders who have played in more than 650 games. Ichiro also won seven consecutive Gold Glove Awards while playing for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan.
"He is the best fundamental right fielder I have ever played with," former Mariners star Bret Boone said. "He deserves it."
Ichiro's defensive piece de resistance in his award-winning season came May 2 at Safeco Field in an otherwise nondescript 5-0 loss to the Angels.
Angels outfielder Garret Anderson had already homered in the third inning of the shutout when he stepped to the plate in the seventh against reliever Julio Mateo. He blasted another deep fly to right field that looked like a goner.
But then Ichiro stepped into the frame.
The Mariners right fielder chased after the ball and climbed the Safeco Field wall, leaving a cleat mark in the "S" of the Washington Mutual advertisement.
When it became obvious that the ball was not hit hard enough to leave the yard, Ichiro adjusted in mid-climb to reach back and snag it while still practically stuck to the wall. He fell to the ground and heard immediately from the fans, who rained the familiar "I-CHI-RO" chant down as Anderson ambled back to his dugout.
Ichiro admitted that he misjudged it a bit, thinking it had enough legs to be a homer, and that's what made his Spider-Man-like climb and hanging-on-wall repositioning even cooler to watch.
"I don't know if I have ever seen a better catch," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said.
"I've watched him for three or four years now, so anything he does out there really doesn't surprise me at all," the typically stoic Anderson added.
It didn't seem to surprise Ichiro, either.
"I've imagined making that play, going up there like that," Ichiro said through his interpreter. "So going up there like that was something I knew I could do.
"I don't know if it's the best catch I've ever made, but having the fans enjoy it a little bit was special."

Source: http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/