Indie artist Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie has released the physical and digital copy of his 2012 song, “Ichiro’s Theme.” This comes after the recent news that famous baseball player, Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners’ will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Suzuki is a former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played for the Seattle Mariners for twelve years before retiring in 2019. As for Gibbard, he grew up in Seattle, Washington and is a big fan of the Mariners, particularly Suzuki. Although the original song was released in 2012, Gibbard is rereleasing “Ichiro’s Theme” to celebrate Suzuki’s induction as well as show his continued support for Seattle. 

Regarding his inspiration for the song, Gibbard shared, “I wrote this song while I was living in LA and feeling homesick for Seattle. It lived on a hard drive until years later when Ichiro was tragically traded from the Mariners to the loathsome New York Yankees.” He continued, “On the eve of Ichiro’s induction into the Baseball Hall Of Fame I’m thrilled to offer it up to the Baseball Gods b/w The Baseball Project’s ‘Ichiro Goes to the Moon.’” Gibbard’s “Ichiro’s Theme” and The Baseball Project’s “Ichiro Goes to the Moon” have been released together on a 7” vinyl. Proceeds will go towards the Seattle-based non-profit, Teen Feed, which is dedicated to fighting youth homelessness. 

Gibbard is also currently on tour with his band, Death Cab for Cutie. The tour began on July 25 at the Redding Civic Auditorium in Redding, CA and will end on August 14 at the Ridgefield Playhouse in Ridgefield, CT. Many of their shows have already sold out. However, the final show on the tour will be a Ben Gibbard solo show which has yet to sell out. Tickets can be purchased here. 

Photo Credit: Alyssa Fried