Ichiro Suzuki's long and impressive career has turned heads in the past week. Besides Ichiro's contributions as one of the greatest Japanese imports to the game of baseball, Ichiro is on pace to go down as one of the greatests players of all time, boasting 10 Golden Gloves and recently 3,000 hits in Major League Baseball. Ichiro's meticulous preparation, longevity, and success will be talked about for years to come.
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9 Game-Changing Things You Didn't Know About Ichiro
1. Ichiro used advanced training methods to simultaneously increase strength and flexibility.
He credits the longevity of his career to training machines which,"allow him to stretch and condition what he considers the most crucial muscle groups for baseball—those around the shoulder blades, pelvis, and hip joints—beyond what he can do with simple calisthenics." His training regiment was so impressive that the Yankees training staff adopted some of his methods.Check out the Wall Street Journal's full article about it here.
2. Ichiro sent a letter to Randy Johnson about wearing #51 for the Mariners.
Ichiro was initially hesistant when the Mariners issued him number 51. To avoid insulting its former owner, Randy Johnson, Ichiro forwarded a personal message to the Big Unit promising not to “bring shame” to the uniform. As the game of baseball often poetically links players, Ichiro got his first All-Star game hit off of number 51, Randy Johnson.
3. Ichiro donated a ton of his gear to Cooperstown.
Ichiro is donating the gear he wore on the day he hit 3,000 hits. The Miami Herald tells us:The gear will join more than half a dozen artifacts that Ichiro has already donated to the Baseball Hall of Fame.Ichiro handed the collection of memorabilia to National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum president Jeff Idelson on Monday before the Marlins game against the Giants.
“I have an agreement with Jeff that the day I die, all my stuff [from my baseball career] is going to him for the Hall of Fame,” Ichiro said.
4. Every year he flies to Japan for the youth league he sponsors and watches the championship game.
The Ichiro Cup is held in Ichiro's hometown. The 6-month long youth boys' league includes 200 teams held in Toyoyama. Ichiro watches the final game and attends the awards ceremony as the honored chairman of the Ichiro Cup (source). Pretty impressive that he makes that 19-hour flight every year for a youth league game.
5. He is the only player to hit an inside the park homerun in an All-Star game.
Not a bad way to stand out amongst the game's best players.
7. From 2001 to 2004, Ichiro amassed more hits (922) than anyone in history over any four-year period. Bill Terry held the old record of 918.
8. Only Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente have won more Gold Gloves in the outfield than Ichiro.
9. In 2010, he reached 200-plus hits for the 10th consecutive year.
In his professional career, Ichiro has 4,278 hits -- 1,278 in Japan and 3,000 in Major League Baseball. Pete Rose, MLB's Hit King, finished his career with 4,256 hits in the big leagues.Ichiro's first big league hit came on April 2, 2001, a double, off T.J. Mathews of the A's. His 1,000th hit was a single off Jon Lieber of the Phillies on June 14, 2005, and No. 2,000 -- a double -- came against Gio Gonzalez, then with the A's, on Sept. 9, 2009.Upon Ichiro's gear donation to the Hall of Fame, president Jeff Idelson describes Ichiro with great admiration: "There is no current player I've encountered who has as deep an appreciation of baseball history as Ichiro," Idelson said. "This is a guy who understands his place in history. Because of that, as a sport and as a country, we're all the richer."When asked about how he felt about his accomplishment, in Ichiro-honoring fashion he shared, "When I got my first hit as a big leaguer, I felt good for myself," Ichiro said. "Today when I got my 3,000th hit, I was happy, but I was happy for the people around me, for the people that have supported me and have cheered me on. I really felt that today."
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