A rush went through the crowd as Ichiro Suzuki settled underneath the ball Shunta Tanaka hit high into air in the third inning.
The fans cheered when the ball nestled into Ichiro's glove and the volume went way up when he fired an absolute strike from right field to third base.
No matter that Alex Guerrero, who clapped a little himself at second, probably wasn't running anyway, even on a 45-year-old Ichiro. The fans had been yearning for some glimpse of the old Ichiro and that throw — even without Terrence Long there to be tagged out — was good enough.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.