The past, the present and the future of Mariners baseball shared the field Wednesday afternoon, and Colt Emerson could barely contain his enthusiasm.
The only regret Emerson had from his first day with the Mariners is he didn’t test Ichiro’s arm.
“He’s a legend, you know?” Emerson, the Mariners’ top prospect, said. “I can’t describe it good enough. It’s just cool. It’s just really cool. Growing up, watching baseball and just living out a dream, it’s just really cool, and I’m having such a fun time … and just so thankful for this opportunity.”
A 20-year-old shortstop who began the season in High-A Everett, Emerson earned a promotion to Double-A Arkansas in early August and then made it up to Triple-A Tacoma in late September.
And here he is at the start of October, taking the field with the big-league club as the Mariners prepare for the start of the American League Division Series starting Saturday at T-Mobile Park.
Well, he’s sort of part of it.
Emerson was one of 11 players selected this week to the Mariners’ taxi squad, a group of players eligible for the postseason roster in a just-in-case scenario.
He did put on a white Mariners uniform, wearing No. 85, on Wednesday to play in the first of two six-inning scrimmages as the Mariners try to stay sharp during their bye week.
Emerson didn’t get a plate appearance, but he did play an inning on defense, and he was installed as a pinch-runner at second base in the third inning. With one out, Mitch Garver lofted a routine fly ball to medium-depth right field, where Ichiro camped under it and made the catch.
Emerson, the youngest player on the field, had led off about a quarter of the way off second base, in case the ball dropped, and then retreated to second base after the catch was made by Ichiro, the oldest player on the field.
Cole Young, the Mariners’ 22-year-old rookie, was playing second base and standing nearby as Emerson stood back on the base.
“I turned around to Cole and I was like, ‘I should have tested him; I should have tested the arm,’ ” Emerson said with a laugh.
Emerson scored on the next pitch when Victor Robles hit a soft single to right field. Ichiro had no chance to throw out the rookie at home; naturally, he hit the cutoff man.
A crowd of around 5,000 was on hand, huddled behind home plate and the two dugouts at T-Mobile Park, and fans rose to their feet to give Ichiro a standing ovation when he hauled in the Garver fly ball.
The 51-year-old Ichiro, wearing his No. 51 white jersey, then flashed Julio Rodríguez’s trademark “No Fly Zone” gesture with his arms.
Rodríguez was thrilled when he learned Tuesday that Ichiro was going to suit up for Wednesday’s scrimmage. It was Ichiro’s message to the team in August, during his number-retirement ceremony, when he urged the Mariners to “seize the moment” in their playoff pursuit.
Rodríguez said that messages has resonated.
“I feel like we all took it to heart because of who it came from,” Rodríguez said. “He’s been here. He’s done that. He was part of the legendary team that we had in 2001, and having that much experience accumulated, and he’s passing that on to us. And kind of like saying, ‘It’s your time now, to go out there and take it, I feel like that’s why me and a lot of the guys took it to heart – because of who it came from.”
Rodríguez shared the outfield with Ichiro on Wednesday, patrolling center field. Behind the plate was Cal Raleigh, and it’s those two current stars who represent two of the biggest reasons the Mariners believe this could be the year they break through and reach the World Series.
Emerson, one of baseball’s most touted prospects, represents one reason the organization hopes it will have future October opportunities.
“Oh my gosh, walking out on the field and fielding ground balls, feeling part of the team for the first time, it was just amazing. I couldn’t stop smiling,” Emerson said. “It’s such a good group here. The guys have treated me so well, and I’m just so grateful for that.”
Eugenio Suárez hit a three-run home run off the out-of-town scoreboard off Emerson Hancock in the top of the first inning, helping the “visiting” team to a 6-1 victory in the six-inning game.
Raleigh hit a solo homer in the bottom of the first off Eduard Bazardo.
The Mariners wanted to simulate as much of a gamelike atmosphere as possible for the scrimmage. They did pipe in some additional crowd noise, and the fans in attendance were treated to usual between-innings entertainment on sideboard – and on the field.
Robles, warming up in the outfield in the middle of the second inning, jumped in the middle of the Salmon Run on the outfield warning track … and won the race.
Wednesday’s scrimmage began at 2 p.m., and it started with the T-Mobile Park roof closed. The roof opened midway through the game, by design, to give players a chance to acclimate to the afternoon sunshine and shadows they could experience here during the playoffs.
“We were hoping to get it open at some point, and we were able to do that so you get a much better idea of what the sunlight can be,” M’s manager Dan Wilson said. “It turned out in the end to work out perfectly.”
The Mariners are hosting another scrimmage at 5 p.m. Thursday. That event is sold out.