My memory isn't what it used to be. That being said... I still remember watching Ichiro Suzuki receive a standing ovation from players and fans at the Tokyo Dome as he walked off the field as a player for the final time in his career back in March of 2019.
Since then it's been a waiting game... since there was no doubt in my mind that he'd be a first ballot hall of famer. And as we all know... the wait is sort of over. Last Tuesday he got the call from the National Baseball Hall of Fame, but now Ichiro and his fans must wait another six months for the Class of 2025 Induction Ceremony which will be held on July 27th in Cooperstown.
Until then you can expect at least two or three posts celebrating Ichiro's career. Today's post focuses on his Topps flagship base card run. It's not complete, but it's darn close.
2001 Topps #726
2002 Topps #225
No Topps base card run could be considered complete without his rookie card. It took me twenty-three years, but I finally acquired a copy last summer at the flea market. Unfortunately, I'm still looking for his 2001 Topps Traded & Rookies card.
2003 Topps #100
2004 Topps #10
His 2004 and 2005 Topps base cards are two of my favorites. Both feature attractive action shots.
2005 Topps #400
2006 Topps #225
2007 Topps #400
Topps dropped the ball on Ichiro's 2007 base card. What could have been one heckuva "play at the plate" card ended up being a zoomed in... cropping disaster.
2008 Topps #320
2009 Topps #300
2010 Topps #125
Topps redeemed themselves in 2008 with a nice photo of Ichiro and his iconic "samurai" pose.
2011 Topps #200
2012 Topps #537
2012 Topps Update #US272
On July 23, 2012... the Seattle Mariners shipped him off to the New York Yankees where he'd play the next two seasons. Unfortunately Topps didn't have a contract with him, so Ichiro didn't have base cards in their 2013 and 2014 flagship sets.
2015 Topps Update #US396
2016 Topps #700
In 2015, he signed with the Miami Marlins as a free agent and returned to Topps in time for their Update set.
2017 Topps #699
2018 Topps #157
2018 Topps Update #US100
In March of 2018, he'd return to play for the Seattle Mariners for about a month before transitioning to a position in their front office. The following season, he'd play his final two MLB games for the Mariners in Japan for the 2019 MLB Opening Series.
Ichiro has one of those "legends" variation cards in 2019 Topps flagship and another in the 2019 Topps Update set, but I haven't tracked either of those down yet. In fact, I haven't really gone out of my way to obtain any of the Topps flagship short prints with the exception of this card:
2020 Topps #363
I will continue to look for reasonably priced Topps flagship variations of Ichiro, but who knows when I'll be fortunate enough to land another one. In the meantime, if you like these sorts of things... I encourage you to check out Reds Card Collector. His Ichiro collection is super impressive.
Well that's it for now. I'm a little behind on blogging, but I do have another Flea Market Find post in the works. Hopefully I'll get it published on Thursday. I have another trip to the flea market planned for Saturday and I'd hate to start piling up posts. But we'll see how things play out.
Happy Tuesday and sayonara!
17 comments:
I still think it's strange that he played for the Yankees.
I am also chasing a 2001 Topps Traded rookie. More so for the other guy on the card. Great collection.
I NEED STHAT 2001 TRADED AS WELL (AND THE PUJOLS).
I have the 2020 topps ichiro legends variation sp from series 1 in my final tribute collection. It meets the criteria for sure! I need to take stock of my old ichiro pc that started in 2001 and ended in 2002.
Man, what a career Ichiro had, from his start at home to a HOF career here in the MLB. I still remember that 2001 season where he and Pujols were absolutely amazing and the Mariners won 116 games. Good luck on your search for some of his tougher cards!
Nuts how variable hitting quality in baseball can be. He hit .351 and .352 and did NOT win the batting title those years! And he still managed to lead the AL in hits in a season he missed 16 games.
Forgot he was a Yankee as long as he was. He was well past his prime by then. The Yankees love collecting hitters who are past their expiration date. A couple this winter in Goldschmidt and Bellinger.
I sent you a few PWEs a couple of weeks ago - hope they arrive soon!
big tone - me too. but it's even weirder that he went to play in miami. if he didn't stay with the mariners... i was hoping he'd come to play with the a's :D
cardinalsfan16 - don't blame ya for chasing the other guy. that card is the modern day bird and magic rookie card.
johnnys trading spot - looks like we're all hunting that one down. you've got a lot of connections, so i'm sure you'll land it before me
gcrl - an ichiro pc that started in 2001 and ended in 2002? that's gotta be a pretty nice collection. hope to see it on your blog
dennis - 2001 was an awesome season for baseball. but that's the year i sold off my collection... to pay off bills and get myself in position to buy my place. i actually don't even think i ever opened up any packs that year
jason presley - that's what i love about baseball and statistics. all of the little anomalies.
bo - the yankees got goldschmidt? i really like him. i got your pwe's yesterday. i'll try to open them up this week and hammer out a post early next week. thanks in advance.
Awesome run down! What an amazing player!
It would be cool if Topps made update 2013 and 2014 cards of Ichiro (continuing the numbering sequence from those sets) and put them in packs this year - It would blow people's mind - Majestic 12
Great collection, I still need to get a RC for myself. And I still wanna know who and why one writer didn't vote for him.
Thanks Fuji for the call out! Great run of Ichiro's you have!
I was fortunate enough, albeit a spring game, to see the great Ichiro play when he was with the Marlins.
Good Job! 👍
The only real difference between the 2001 Topps and 2001 Topps Traded Ichiro are the card number. I would consider it complete.
There are tons of cards like that which Topps misses, and while I like making customs to fill the voids, I wish Topps would scrap the Archives set the way it is, and consider making some of these missing cards as the base set of Archives. There are enough noteable ones to keep it going that way for a decade at least with a 300 card set.
sumomenkoman - such a entertaining and smart player. i've been enjoying going back and watching his highlights... especially the defensive ones
john bateman - that's a good idea. maybe include it as an insert or even the base set for flagship or archives
jafronius - you aren't alone. there are a lot of us who'd like to know why ichiro didn't get his/her vote
reds card collector - no problem. your collection of ichiro sp's is awesome!
john sharp - nice. i saw him as a marlin too when he was in town to play the giants.
jeremya1um - the topps traded rookie card i'm seeking is the one where he's paired with pujols. not seeking the chrome traded card (that looks like his topps flagship rookie)... but if i found one for a good price, i'd grab that too. i like the idea of using archives to make some of the missing cards of players that never made the flagship checklists. maybe someone from topps will read your suggestion.
Ichiro's got some epic action shots for his cards. I guess when you do as much as he does, you get better pics.
I'd like to know who the one guy is who didn't vote for him. Kinda disappointed about that.
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