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“I’ve never caught a ball like that before, so it will stay in my memory,” Ichiro said after the Mariners’ 6-4 win. “If you look at the angle, usually it’s from the right or the left. But that was straight from the top. That was a tough play and was one of my impressive catches.

“You [must] have the imagery to go straight to the ball and not go around it. Once you go around from the left or the right you don’t get to that ball. When you first see it, you imagine where the ball will land. So you go straight to that point where the ball will drop and then you will see it from up top.”

Note, however, that while Ichiro’s back is to the infield, his head is turn around to the right and up as he watches the ball. He only loses sight of it as it goes over the top, the picks it up again as his head aligns with his shoulders and he leans back (see the six second mark). He did a tremendous job of following a ball hit straight at him and well above him.