Forget leading off; Ichiro needs to just lead

Nobody in the history of the game has played baseball quite like Ichiro. Nobody has swung the bat the way he does. Nobody has run the bases the way he runs them.

He is unique, and all of us in Seattle who love baseball have been fortunate to watch him play.

We've seen him make throws from right field to third base that nobody besides Roberto Clemente has made. We've seen him hit-'em-where-they-ain't better than anybody since Pete Rose. We've seen Ichiro get more hits in one season than any player ever.

We've seen him take swings that look like Phil Mickelson flop shots that drop into baseball's Bermuda Triangle, that dead zone in front of the left fielder and in back of the shortstop and third baseman.

Ichiro, at bat, on base, in the outfield, puts a special pressure on a pitcher, an infielder, a baserunner.

And his game is so good it has to be viewed through a different lens. He is so accomplished he has to be measured by a different set of standards.

For all of his greatness, the Mariners aren't winning with Ichiro being Ichiro. For three seasons in a row, with him solemnly slapping more than 200 hits a year, they have finished last in the American League West.

Now it is clear that, in the last year of his contract — and in a season the Mariners, from the front office down, need to show the Northwest they're in it for more than the money — even more will be expected from Ichiro.

This team of ifs and maybes needs intangibles. It needs the same kind of savvy Stan Javier brought to the clubhouse. The same eminence that Edgar Martinez and Jay Buhner had.

During this three-year downward spiral, the Mariners' clubhouse has changed dramatically. The room has been lifeless. The players have been remote.

The history in Seattle is that good teams have good clubhouses. The Mariners need Ichiro to make their room better. That means spending more time, cubicle-to-cubicle, picking up young players like Jose Lopez and Yuniesky Betancourt during those inevitable dog days.

It means being less aloof, sticking around after games and doing more interviews, being more accountable, instead of slipping away into the training room. He is a veteran and he needs to be a spokesperson for the team, whether it's struggling or rolling.

Management has allowed life in Seattle to become very comfortable for Ichiro. He hasn't had to take risks. He hasn't had to talk to the media, or even to his teammates, when he hasn't wanted to talk.

After this season he could leave Seattle, which would be tragic.

I believe the Mariners should and will make him an offer sweet enough to keep him in town, but, as part of that deal, they should demand more.

At 33, he is the wise veteran now, the only player who has continuously remained from the 2001 team that won 116 games. He is the clubhouse's only perennial all-star.

And, if he truly believes in loyalty, if he believes in making the only big-league franchise he has ever known better, he has to lead it.

Ichiro might not like it, might not fully understand it, but his teammates are looking to him for leadership. They are looking to see if he'll lay down a sacrifice bunt when the situation demands it. Looking to see if he'll be more patient at the plate. And they are looking to see if he becomes more engaging, becomes one of them.

He often has said the best way he can help the team is to pile up numbers, get on base, play his game the way he knows how to play it. If he plays the game for himself, the team benefits.

That philosophy, however, doesn't work when the team doesn't win.

Ichiro has made the sacrifice and moved to center field, something a leader does. Now, he has to do the other things, like becoming a more selective hitter.

His walks have remained consistent, but low, the past three seasons — 49, 48, 49. With his ability to steal bases, a walk can be as good as a double. And if he were to show more patience at the plate, work the count more, that patience could be contagious for the Mariners' undisciplined lineup.

If — and there are loads of ifs with this team this season — Jose Guillen and Jose Vidro can stay healthy, a middle of the lineup that includes Adrian Beltre, Raul Ibanez, Richie Sexson, Vidro and Guillen only needs Ichiro on base to fuel big innings.

Let's remember just how good Ichiro's numbers are. He led the league in multi-hit games last season with 71. He is a career .331 hitter and has averaged .333 the past three seasons.

His durability is unquestioned. He has played in at least 157 games each of his six years. He stole 45 bases last season, second best in his Mariners career and was caught stealing only twice. In the past three years he has grounded into only 13 double plays.

Ichiro is a great player, but as good as he is, more should be expected.

I believe he can do everything in the game, and that includes leading the Mariners out of the morass of the past three seasons.

Steve Kelley: 206-464-2176 or skelley@seattletimes.com.