Coming home: Remembering Ichiro's greatest moments in Seattle

It really was always supposed to end this way.

Ichiro Suzuki reached the playoffs in New York, but he never quite looked right in Yankee pinstripes. And though he got to 3,000 hits in Miami, the lasting image of him will most certainly not be when he wore that gaudy orange top.

He is, of course, a Seattle Mariner through and through. So when word came down Monday that the 44-year-old future Hall of Famer is reportedly closing in on a return to the Mariners, it just felt right. It was in Seattle where he blazed a trail for his fellow Japanese position players, and left his mark as an all-time great of the sport. So even though he's not the old Ichiro anymore from a production standpoint, this is clearly the best way for him to say goodbye to Major League Baseball.

Before he dons a Mariners uniform again, let's take a walk down memory lane and revisit some of Ichiro's greatest moments and accomplishments in Seattle.

April 2, 2001: First big-league hit

It took until his fourth at-bat for Ichiro to notch big-league hit No. 1. And it came in his typical fashion, too: a little nubber up the middle off Oakland reliever T.J. Matthews. Naturally, he came around to score a few minutes later.

April 11, 2001: The throw

Any lingering questions about whether Ichiro's style would translate to the majors were gone after this, in his eighth big-league game. When Oakland's Terrence Long made the mistake of trying to go first to third on him, Ichiro pounced in right field and unleashed the most iconic throw of his career - it's literally known as "The Throw" in Japan - that nailed Long by a country mile. This was truly the moment that Ichiro arrived.

July 10, 2001: An All-Star hit off The Big Unit

Upon joining the Mariners, Ichiro was issued No. 51, a number that had previously belonged to another Seattle baseball icon, Randy Johnson, and Ichiro actually wrote him a letter promising not to "bring shame" to the number. The two No. 51's met at Safeco Field that July in the All-Star Game - Johnson was by then with the Diamondbacks - and Ichiro won the battle by legging out an infield hit, to roars of approval from the hometown crowd.

Aug. 28, 2001: First 200-hit season

Ichiro's 10 seasons with at least 200 hits are tied with Pete Rose for the most ever. He reached the mark for the first time in the 132nd game of his rookie season by rapping a single - what else - up the middle. He finished 2001 with a rookie record 242 hits, and also won his first batting title and stolen-base crown for the 116-win Mariners, en route to winning both Rookie of the Year and AL MVP.

Oct. 1, 2004: Single-season hit king

George Sisler's 257 base hits in 1920 stood as baseball's single-season mark for 84 years. Then in 2004, with the Sisler family watching at Safeco Field, Ichiro smacked a single for his 258th hit of the 2004 season, breaking a mark that many thought was untouchable. Tears were shed when Ichiro embraced Sisler's daughter Francis, who was in attendance to watch her father's record fall, during the celebrations. Ichiro went on to finish the season with 262 hits.

May 2, 2005: Scaling the wall

In what was likely the best catch of his career, Ichiro scaled Safeco's right-field wall to steal a homer from the Angels' Garret Anderson in simply stunning fashion.

July 10, 2007: All-Star inside-the-park HR

A deep fly ball took a weird hop off AT&T Park's strange outfield walls, and Ichiro was off to the races with the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history. Naturally, he was awarded the game's MVP.

July 29, 2008: 3,000 combined hits

His 3,000th major-league hit would come in a Marlins uniform, but it was as a Mariner that he reached 3,000 for the first time, when combined with his 1,728 hits in Japan (later, he'd reach 4,000 combined hits). While not an official record of any kind, it was nonetheless a very important moment in the career of a man who's not just an all-time great, but a true trailblazer for his country.

Sept. 13, 2009: Ninth straight 200-hit season

There were few people in the stands to see this historic infield single, which gave Ichiro his ninth straight 200-hit season, surpassing Wee Willie Keeler - who did it from 1894-1901 - for the MLB record. He'd extend the mark to 10 the following season.

Sept. 18, 2009: Walking off Mo

Ichiro was never a home-run hitter - "there's sexiness in infield hits," he once claimed - but every once in awhile, in his own words, he'd "flirt a little by hitting one out." Well if he liked to flirt by hitting homers, then smacking his first career walk-off blast off none other than Mariano Rivera was a big old smooch on the lips.

April 19, 2017: One last time at Safeco?

Assuming at the time that it was probably his last trip to Seattle, the Mariners honored Ichiro for his 3,000th hit the previous season when the Marlins paid a visit in 2017. And Ichiro rose to the occasion when he sent Safeco Field into hysteria by homering in what was supposed to be his final at-bat in Seattle.

As we now know, he's going to get a few more plate appearances in Seattle. Maybe he'll hit one more homer out to Mount Rainier before it's all done.