Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle Mariners – No. 51
Right field
Bats: Left Throws: Right
debut
April 2, 2001, for the Seattle Mariners
Career statistics (through July 4, 2006)
Hits	1258
Runs scored	627
Batting average	.334
Stats at Baseball Reference

Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō), often known simply as Ichiro (イチロー), born October 22, 1973 in Toyoyama, Nishikasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, is the right fielder for the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team. He moved to the United States in 2001 after playing for nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League. When the Blue Wave granted his release after the 2000 season, Ichiro signed a contract with the Mariners. He became the first Japanese-born everyday position player in the Major Leagues. By all accounts, Ichiro has not suffered any significant decrease in performance after his transition to the American Major Leagues. Indeed, many believe that his performance in the Majors already surpasses his accomplished career in Japan.

2004 was his most impressive offensive season yet, as he set several MLB records, including a new all-time, single-season Major League record with 262 hits. Ichiro, equipped with arguably the most accurate throwing arm in the league, is widely regarded as one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball, winning a Gold Glove in each of his first five years in the majors.

Childhood preparation

At age seven, Ichiro joined his first baseball team and asked his father, Nobuyuki Suzuki (鈴木宣之 Suzuki Nobuyuki), to teach him to be a better player. The two began a daily routine which included throwing 50 pitches, hitting 200 pitches from Nobuyuki, fielding 50 infield balls and 50 outfield balls, and hitting 250–300 pitches from a machine.

Ichiro Suzuki, all-time single-season hits leader in Major League Baseball.

As a Little Leaguer, Ichiro had the word shūchū (集中—"concentration") written on his glove. By age 12, he had set professional baseball as his goal and, while he apparently shared his father's vision, he did not enjoy their training sessions. Nobuyuki claimed, "Baseball was fun for both of us," but Ichiro later said, "It might have been fun for him, but for me it was a lot like "Star of the Giants", a popular Japanese manga and anime series that told of a young boy's difficult road to success as a professional baseball player, with rigorous training demanded by the father. According to Ichiro, "It bordered on hazing and I suffered a lot."

When Ichiro joined his high school baseball team, his father told the coach, "No matter how good Ichiro is, don't ever praise him. We have to make him spiritually strong." When he was ready to enter high school, Ichiro was selected by a school with a prestigious baseball program, Nagoya's Aikodai Meiden Kōkō, where, unlike as a professional, Ichiro was primarily a pitcher instead of an outfielder, owing to his exceptionally strong arm. Among the strength drills he performed in training there were hurling car tires and hitting wiffleballs with a heavy shovel. These exercises helped develop his wrists and hips, adding power and endurance to his thin frame. Yet, despite the production of outstanding numbers in high school, Ichiro was not drafted until the fourth and final round of the professional draft in November 1991 because many teams were put off by his small size of 5'9" and 120 pounds (54 kg). (Whiting, 2004, pp. 2–12.)

Career in Japan

Ichiro made his Pacific League debut in 1992 at the age of 18, but he spent most of his first two seasons with a farm team due to his manager's refusal to accept Ichiro's unorthodox swing. The swing, nicknamed 'pendulum' due to the pendulum-like motion of his leg, shifting the weight forward as he swung the bat, was considered to go against conventional baseball wisdom, which insisted that the weight must remain on the rear leg in order to hit the ball effectively. Thus, even though he hit a home run off Hideo Nomo, who later won the rookie of the year in MLB as a Dodger, in the second season, he was sent back to the farm on that very day. In 1994 he benefited from the arrival of a new manager who put him in the second spot of the lineup, which eventually changed to the leadoff spot, for the Blue Wave allowed him to hit any way he wanted. He responded by setting a Japanese single-season record with 210 hits in 130 games for a then-Pacific League record .385 batting average and won the first of a record seven consecutive batting titles. He also hit 13 home runs and had 29 stolen bases, helping him to earn his first of three straight Pacific League MVP (Most Valuable Player) awards.

It was during the 1994 season that he began to use "Ichiro" instead of "Suzuki" on his uniform. Suzuki is the second most common surname in Japan, and his manager introduced the idea as a publicity stunt to help create a new image for what had been a relatively weak team, as well as a way to distinguish their rising star. Initially, Ichiro disliked the practice and was embarrassed by it, but "Ichiro" was a household name by the end of the season and he was flooded with endorsement offers.

In 1995 Ichiro led the Blue Wave to their first Pacific League pennant in 12 years. In addition to his second batting title, he led the league with 80 RBI (runs batted in), hit 25 home runs, and stole 49 bases. By this time, the Japanese press had begun calling him the "Human Batting Machine." The following year, with Ichiro winning his third straight MVP award, the team defeated the Central League champion, Yomiuri Giants, in the Japan Series. Following the 1996 season, playing in an exhibition series against a visiting team of Major League All-Stars kindled Ichiro's desire to travel to the United States to play in the Major Leagues.

In 2000, Ichiro was still a year away from being eligible for free agency, but the Blue Wave were no longer among Japan's best teams. They could probably not be able to afford to keep him and would lose him without compensation in another year, and allowed him to negotiate with Major League clubs. Ichiro became the first player to exercise the posting system, and the Seattle Mariners won the right to negotiate with him with a bid of around $13 million.[1] Ichiro signed a three-year, $14 million contract with the Mariners and became the first Japanese-born everyday position player in the Major Leagues.

In his nine seasons in Japan, Ichiro was a career .353 batter and, in addition to his hitting achievements, won seven Gold Glove Awards.

In January 2006, Ichiro played himself in Furuhata Ninzaburo, a Japanese Columbo-like TV drama that he loves. In the drama, he kills a person and is arrested.

Career in Major League Baseball

On November 9, 2000, Ichiro was acquired by the Seattle Mariners for a contract worth roughly $14 million. Ichiro's move to the United States was viewed with great interest because he was the first Japanese position player to play regularly for a Major League Baseball team. Up to that point, only pitchers from Japan had been playing in the United States and, in the same way that many Japanese teams had considered the 18-year-old Ichiro too small to draft in 1992, many in the US believed he was too frail to succeed against Major League pitching or endure the longer 162-game season.

Career Hits
Statistics as of July 19, 2006
Season	Hits
2001	242
2002	208
2003	212
2004	262*
2005	206
2006	141
Total	1271
*MLB Record

Not only did he prove he belonged, Ichiro had a remarkable 2001 season, accumulating 242 hits (the most by any player since 1930 as well as a rookie record) and leading the league with a .350 batting average and 56 stolen bases. By mid-season, he had produced hitting streaks of 15 and 23 games, been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and created a media storm on both sides of the Pacific. In Seattle, ticket sales (and wins) were higher than ever, fans from Japan were taking $2,000 baseball tours to see the games, more than 150 Japanese reporters and photographers were clamoring for access, and "Ichirolls" were being sold at sushi stands in the ballpark. The flight agencies also benefited from Ichiro, many Ichiro fans were flying in and out of the country just to see him play. (Whiting, 2004, pp. 25-31)

Aided by Major League Baseball's decision to allow All-Star voting in Japan, Ichiro was the first rookie to lead all players in voting for the All-Star Game. At season's end, he won the American League Most Valuable Player and the Rookie of the Year awards, becoming only the second player in MLB history (after Fred Lynn) to receive both honors in the same season. Some sportswriters criticized his official "rookie" status, saying that his years of experience in the Japanese "major leagues" gave him an unfair advantage over other rookie players who had little or no prior major league experience.

In addition to being a five time Gold Glove winner, Ichiro is also a six-time All-Star selection from 2001 to 2006. His success has opened the door for other Japanese players like Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui to enter the Major Leagues.

Ichiro is noted for his work ethic in arriving early for his team's games, and for his calisthenic stretching exercises to stay limber even during the middle of the game. Continuing the custom he began in Japan, he uses his given name on the back of his uniform instead of his surname, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball to do so since Vida Blue.

Ichiro's career is followed closely in Japan, with national television news programs covering each of his at-bats, and with special tour packages arranged for Japanese fans to visit the United States to view his games.

Ichiro resides in nearby Medina, an affluent suburb across Lake Washington from Seattle (same neighborhood as Bill Gates). He is in the process of building a new home there, helping to establish himself as a Mariner for life.

Record-setting 2004 season

Ichiro set a number of Major League records during the 2004 season:

• August 26: With a home run off of Kansas City Royals reliever Jeremy Affeldt, Ichiro became the first player in Major League history to reach 200 hits in each of his first four seasons.
• August 28: He became the first player in MLB history to have three 50-hit months in a single season.
• August 31: Ichiro finishes August with 56 hits, the most since Jeff Heath's 58 in August 1938. [2] He also batted .463 and was named American League Player of the Month for the first time in his career.
• September 17: He broke the major league record with his 199^th single of the season in the seventh. Ichiro bettered the modern (post-1900) record of 198 set by Lloyd Waner of Pittsburgh in 1927.
• September 22: Broke Harry Heilmann's 1925 record with his 135^th hit on the road. It is also arguably Ichiro's hottest streak of the season as he collects nine hits over two games, 11 hits over three games (both personal season highs) and 13 hits over a four-game span (tying his personal season high).
• October 1: Ichiro collected his 258^th and 259^th hits, breaking the record set by George Sisler with the St. Louis Browns in 1920. His 257^th hit also set the Major League record for most hits over any four-year span, with 919.
• October 3: Ichiro completed the 2004 season with 262 hits and an MLB-leading .372 batting average. His 225 Singles in 2004 shattered the previous all-era record of 206, set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1898. He also finished with 145 hits on the road breaking Heilmann's 79-year-old record of 134. Ichiro's 704 at bats fell one short of Willie Wilson's record of 705.

2005 Season

• September 30: In 2005, Ichiro collected over 200 hits for the 5th straight season after going 4/5 against the Oakland A's. He became the first player ever to collect 200 hits per season over his first five years in the league and just the sixth to do so five consecutive times at any point in his career joining Willie Keeler, Wade Boggs, Chuck Klein, Al Simmons, and Charlie Gehringer. He also hit a MLB career-high 15 home runs.

Inaugural World Baseball Classic

Ichiro played for the Japan national baseball team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March of 2006. During the March 15th Korea-Japan game Ichiro was booed during every at-bat in response to a previous statement that he wanted "to beat South Korea so badly, that the South Koreans won't want to play Japan for another 30 years." [3]), Unfortunately, that was an incorrect translation mostly spread to the public through ESPN. Ichiro was variously quoted as saying 「戦った相手が『向こう30年は日本に手は出せないな』という感じで勝ちたいと思う」 which roughly translates to "I would like to win in ways to make our opponents think, 'we got 30 years before we catch up to Japan'." as well as 「アジアラウンド（1次リーグ）では向こう30年、日本に勝てないと思わせるぐらいやっつけたい。ファンのみなさんは、いくらでも期待してください which roughly translates to "I want to beat the teams in the Asia Round so they think they won't win for another 30 years. Fans, you will see the best team in Asia." In addition, he makes the aforementioned comments tongue in cheek. He is seen laughing and smiling in the video while making this comment. [4]

Japan lost to Korea in 2 early round games, before defeating them in the semi-finals. Team Japan ultimately won the tournament, defeating Cuba in the finals, 10-6. Ichiro was one of only two major league players for Japan, the other being reliever Akinori Otsuka. Throughout the course of the tournament, Ichiro provided twelve hits, seven runs, four stolen bases, and one home run. Many have said that the WBC MVP should have gone to Ichiro, due to his leadership, his defense (which is also noted in the majors), and his clutch plays.

2006 Season

• As of July 25, 2006, Ichiro has continued his all-star play. After a slow start, which included hitting near the Mendoza Line (a .200 batting average), he has rebounded in grand fashion and is now hitting .343 (3rd in the AL and 4th in the majors), accumulating 147 hits, 73 runs, and 33 stolen bases. Ichiro is on pace for the second most (behind a way career high 56 in 2001.) stolen bases of his career. Experts of ESPN such as Peter Gammons projected this season to be Ichiro's second best in terms of stolen bases due to the fact that the 2006 Mariners have made stealing bases their strong suit, and ESPN even played a montage of their best stolen bases so far. Ichiro was voted onto the 2006 American League All-Star team by the fans. He started in the outfield for the AL come July 11 in Pittsburgh, but went 0-3. It is Ichiro's sixth All-Star selection in his six years in the major leagues, and his fifth start. (Only in 2005 he didn't start.)

Statistics in Japan

YEAR	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	TB	RBI	SB	BB	SO	AVG
1992	40	95	9	24	5	0	0	29	5	3	3	11	.253
1993	43	64	4	12	2	0	1	17	3	0	2	7	.188
1994	130	546	111	210	41	5	13	300	54	29	69	53	.385	MVP, MSP, Best Nine, Gold Glove
1995	130	524	104	179	23	4	25	285	80	49	103	52	.342	MVP, MSP, Best Nine, Gold Glove
1996	130	542	104	193	24	4	16	273	84	35	78	57	.356	MVP, Best Nine, Gold Glove
1997	135	536	94	185	31	4	17	275	91	39	80	36	.345	Best Nine, Gold Glove
1998	135	506	79	181	36	3	13	262	71	11	65	35	.358	Best Nine, Gold Glove
1999	103	411	80	141	27	2	21	235	68	12	67	46	.343	Best Nine, Gold Glove
2000	105	395	73	153	22	1	12	213	73	21	58	36	.387	Best Nine, Gold Glove
NPB Total	951	3619	658	1278	211	23	118	1889	529	199	525	333	.353

References

• Robert Whiting, 2004, The Meaning of Ichiro, Warner Books ISBN 0446531928

Articles

• 2002 Time magazine article about Japanese baseball players