Ichiro headed for another Gold Glove - 棒球

08/02/2007 3:18 PM ET
Ichiro headed for another Gold Glove
All-Star adjusts well to his new position in center field
By Patrick Brown / MLB.com


SEATTLE -- The glove glitters wherever it goes.

It has been almost one year -- Aug. 19 to be exact -- that Ichiro Suzuki
moved from right field to center field for the Mariners and nothing much
has changed.

He won six Gold Gloves as a right fielder and should win another one this
season as a full-time center fielder.

Ichiro willingly switched positions in an effort to get Chris Snelling's
left-handed bat into the lineup, and he decided near the end of the season
that the move would be permanent.

More than 100 games later, Ichiro has gone from being one of the premier
right fielders in the league to being one of the premier center fielders
in the business.

The move has been a win-win situation all the way around. It gives the
Mariners a chance to have one of their quickest players cover a lot of
ground in the outfield, and allows Ichiro a chance to lead the team in
a new fashion.

"I don't know if by me going to center field it would be a better team,
but the decision of going to center field was not a hard decision for me,"
Ichiro said through his translator Ken Barron. "Actually, some things became
easier for me. Nothing became harder for me in the process of moving to
center field."

So far, it's worked well. He was an All-Star for the seventh straight time
and the Mariners are competing for a playoff spot for the first time since
2003.

Ichiro has no errors and eight assists this season, including an in-your-face
throw that nailed the Angels' Vladimir Guerrero at home plate to complete an
inning-ending double play in Wednesday night's game at Safeco Field.

The new position has opened the door for the Japanese icon to become a team
leader for the first time.

Being in the middle of the outfield allows him to direct traffic, cover a lot
of ground and move whichever way he desires. The amount of ground he covers
often leads him into far left or right-center field, but has not become a
nuisance to his outfield teammates, Raul Ibanez and Jose Guillen.

"It's good when you're playing with a guy who can cover so much ground,"
Guillen said. "Everybody can see it. He goes to left field, he goes to right
field. He's pretty smart, and he knows what he's doing."

Center field, or "Area 51" as it's known to some of the Mariners faithful,
has become a stretch of land where base hits are rare. Whether it's a long
fly ball caught near the wall, or a shallow pop-up with which he makes a
lunging, backhanded catch, few dispute that Ichiro makes it look easy, no
matter where he's at on the field.

It certainly makes his manager and coaches wonder, is there anything he
can't do?

"He was the best right fielder in the league, and now he's the best center
fielder," Mariners manager John McLaren said. "I don't see any position
changes coming any time soon, but I'm sure if there was, he'd be the best
at that position, whatever that would be."

Ichiro's numbers rival those of the top center fielders in the league.
Toronto's Vernon Wells, who has won three straight Gold Gloves, and
Minnesota's Torii Hunter, who has won six straight, have both committed
one error this season.

Bench/outfield coach Mike Goff said Ichiro possesses the key traits of a
standout center fielder -- speed, instincts and fearlessness.

All three of those are certainly necessary, especially considering Safeco
Field's monstrous dimensions -- 390 feet to left-center, 405 feet to center
and 386 feet to right-center.

Safeco Field's wide-open spaces and Ichiro's speed, though, simply make sense
for him to be the center fielder.

"You want a center fielder that's aggressive," Goff said. "You want him to
want every single ball that's hit. Ichiro is definitely that."

Much like the tough plays he makes in the field, Ichiro made the transition
look seamless, despite having little Major League experience in right field
-- four games prior to the switch last season.

When an outfielder switches locations, he must adapt to different spins on
the ball and different contact points on the bat.

Simply put, for the ball to travel to center field, it has a much different
spin on it than one hit to right or left field. Ichiro welcomed the
transition, though, because it offered him a much larger role with the
Mariners.

"Center field is the leader of the outfield, so basically I could move in
the ways that I wanted to," Ichiro said of the change. "I no longer had to
worry about the players around me."

The role is no longer new, though, and the smooth transition has helped
Ichiro earn even more respect from his teammates.

"Ichiro's right there," Guillen said of Ichiro's ranking among center
fielders. "I can say he's probably the best center fielder that I've played
with."

His leadership role is also welcomed by the coaching staff.

"It's something that's good for us because he's our best player,"
McLaren said. "When your best player speaks up, it carries extra weight."

Ichiro welcomed the change with an open mind and his teammates, coaches
and fans have all learned something about Seattle's iron-man. Whether it's
earning six straight Gold Glove Awards, or becoming the third-fastest player
to achieve 1,500 hits, there isn't much Ichiro can't do.

Well, almost nothing.

"If I was changing positions to become a pitcher," Ichiro quipped, "that
would be a challenge."




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