In his 2,480th game, Ichiro Suzuki did something he'd never done before: hit a pinch-hit homer
Through 2,479 games, however, there was one thing he had yet to do: come off the bench and swat a pinch-hit homer. Well, that finally happened in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Phillies at Marlins Park, and it was pretty great:
The ball traveled a Statcast™-estimated 369 feet before landing in the Marlins' bullpen. It was his very first homer of the season, too.
Let's remember that he managed to pitch in an MLB game before hitting his first pinch-hit homer, which is saying something given that he's now amassed nearly 9,700 at-bats in his MLB career. But Ichiro really put the sigificance of his homer in perspective:
Ichiro: "Pinch-hitting, that's one thing. [Bartolo] Colon had one homer this year and I had zero, so I'm glad I was able to...tie him."
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 7, 2016
Once Suzuki returned to the dugout after his blast, he was treated to a post-homer celebration from teammate
Thanks for being you, Ichiro.