‘Looks like same old Ichiro to me,’ said Mariners manger Scott Servais, who will likely wait until this weekend to put him in a game.
PEORIA, Ariz. — It was the most rudimentary of spring-training drills — some light calisthenics, a game of catch, fielding a few flies, and then some swings in the batting cage.
But because it was Ichiro, and because it was his first time in a Mariners uniform in 5½ years, his initial workout was closely observed by multitudes on a back field of Peoria Stadium.
That included fans who gave Ichiro an ovation when he stepped into the cage.