The Ichi-Meter

The “Ichi-Meter” is a common sight at Safeco Field, hanging above the outfield wall behind Ichiro’s  defensive position in right. It’s the creation of season-ticket holder Amy Franz , who hails from Algona, about 25 miles south of Seattle. At nearly every home game, Franz sits in the front row of the right field stands (known to some as “Area 51″), where she manually updates her counter after each of Ichiro’s hits. TV broadcasts of Mariner games often cut to the counter at such moments.

The Ichi-Meter first appeared in 2004, when Franz began documenting what turned out to be Ichiro’s record-breaking 262-hit season. That original Ichi-Meter (above) is now on display in Cooperstown, atop a display case containing Ichiro’s game-used artifacts from that historic year — bats, batting gloves, wrist bands, sunglasses, spikes, an elbow guard, and a jersey. She’s used another Ichi-Meter since then.

Here’s the Ichi-Meter’s official site, and also its Facebook page. Photo found here.

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