THE FRONT ROW WITH JASON ELLIOTT: Wednesday, July 20, 2016

With a franchise with very limited postseason history compared to other teams in the major leagues, you could say that this week could wind up being one of the biggest in the history of the Seattle Mariners.

Of course, that run that the team had in 1995 to get to its first postseason turned into a month, but as far as biggest for the franchise, stay tuned.

AT SOME point in the near future — whether it’s this week or in the next two — Ichiro Suzuki will eclipse the 3,000-hit plateau, albeit in a Miami Marlins jersey.

When Suzuki broke into the league in 2001, who knew that he’d have a career like this. Very early on in his rookie season, he showed his ability in the field, throwing out runners from the outfield with ease and doing just enough to earn not only Rookie of the Year honors, but also the league MVP award on a team that won an MLB-record 116 games.

All that after losing Alex Rodriguez and not having many expectations at all going into the season.

Then Ichiro broke the single-season hits record in 2004 with 262 and concluded his Mariner career in 2012 with 2,533 hits after asking for a trade to the New York Yankees. Before he left, he broke the franchise mark for hits, held by Edgar Martinez with 2,247.

The last few years in New York and more recently in Miami, he’s almost been lost in the mix at times, but has enjoyed a little bit of a resurgence this year, batting .345 in 77 games entering Tuesday night, easily the best numbers he’s put up since leaving the Northwest.

Granted, he hasn’t played in Seattle in a few years, but he spent 12 years in Seattle putting fans in the seats, when for a time, the M’s weren’t that great on the field.

IN CASE you’ve missed it, Ken Griffey, Jr., will become the first Mariner player to be inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.

While I didn’t get a chance to watch him in the Kingdome, or his first run in center field at Safeco Field, I did get the chance to see his first game in Seattle when he returned to the team in 2009.

On that day, it was like he never left, with a standing ovation every time he was introduced as the team’s designated hitter.

No, I don’t remember what he did offensively on that particular day, but he homered the following night and the crowd erupted, much like it did in 1995 when he’d do that same in much higher intensity games on the way to the postseason.

While they never made the playoffs as teammates, I’ll never forget the final game of the season in 2009, when it seemed as if Griffey was going to retire — he didn’t — and Ichiro was about to leave the team. They’d missed out on the playoffs by a game, but had teammates carrying them around the field after the game saluting fans, much like you’d see after a team had won a championship.

It seems fitting that Griffey will be the first inducted into the Hall. Sure, Randy Johnson was inducted a few years ago — as an Arizona Diamondback — and there’s been a few others with ties to the team.

Griffey also spent time with Cincinnati and the Chicago White Sox, but there will likely be more than a few Mariner fans at Cooperstown this weekend.

And once again in five years after Ichiro decides he’s done.

Jason Elliott is a sports writer for the Coeur d’Alene Press. He can be reached by telephone at (208) 664-8176, Ext. 2020 or via email at jelliott@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter @JEPressSports.