SEATTLE (AP) -- Even Lou Piniella wanted his Ichiro Suzuki bobblehead doll.

	Michael Fielding, 9, watches the throng of fans gathered outside Safeco Field in hopes of receiving a free Ichiro doll.

Why not? It's the hottest thing going in Seattle these days, except for maybe the Mariners themselves.

"There's a bobblehead craze going on," the Mariners manager said before Saturday's game with the Minnesota Twins. "And Ichiro is very popular with these fans. It's a winning promotion."

Piniella proudly pointed to his Suzuki bobblehead, still in its box, in his office. It wasn't for him, though. It was for a special Mariners fan -- his wife, Anita.

"My wife wanted one," he said. "So I got her one. She'll be happy now."

The Mariners are the hottest team in baseball, with a 74-29 record going into Saturday's game. Suzuki, 27, an All-Star right fielder, is their hottest player. He's leading the majors in hits.

	Bobble Madness
	You don't need to be crazy enough to camp out overnight on Seattle's cold, drizzly streets to experience the Ichiro bobblehead craze. You just need to click here to experience ESPN.com's Dan Cawdrey's photo gallery of the event.

Seattle's fans went wild over the 20,000 giveaway dolls.

They began lining up at 11:30 p.m. Friday, after an 11-4 victory over Minnesota, for Saturday's 1:05 p.m. start. Thousands of fans were in line when the gates opened three hours before the game.

"When I showed up, I saw the line but I didn't know it was for the bobbleheads," Suzuki said through an interpreter after the game, a 5-1 Seattle victory. "When I found out why, I thought 'Wow,' I didn't expect that."

"People are nuts, but it shows how people are responding to what we are doing. That's great," Mariners second baseman Bret Boone said.

All-Star reliever Jeff Nelson made sure he got one of the dolls.

"It's cool," Nelson said. "I have a Dave Winfield bobblehead and now I've got an Ichiro Suzuki bobblehead. The whole bobblehead thing is crazy."

Marshall Hagen and Noelle Andresen, both 27 and of Bellevue, showed a reporter their bobblehead on request, but quickly put it away.

"It's going to sit in my safe for awhile," said Hagen, a software engineer for the Bellevue-based Askme Corp. "Just so nobody steals it."

Hagen may have had a point. The Internet auction site eBay.com was listing the doll at prices of up to $140 Saturday.

Hagen and Andresen share season tickets to the Mariners. Hagen said he usually shows up for games five minutes before the first pitch.

He got to Safeco Field at 7:20 a.m. Saturday.

Carol Nichols, 41, of Seattle showed up just after him, at 8, and also scored a doll.

"I'm really excited to have it in my hands," said Nichols, who works for Starbucks. "I wasn't very optimistic when I got here. So I'm very happy now."

Nichols said she expected the doll to escalate in value, but she doesn't plan to sell it.

"I'm going to keep mine," she said. "I'm really a big Mariners fan. This just adds to the excitement."

Diane Sumi, 48, of Seattle, clutched her Suzuki bobblehead in its box and said she felt sorry for the fans who were left out.

"It's too bad they didn't make one for everybody," Sumi said.