Ichiro Suzuki is probably the best-known and most successful Japanese baseball player to play outside of Japan. He moved to Major League Baseball in 2001 and immediately started breaking records and making history. He is the first MLB player to join the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame. He was also selected as the 2007 All-Star Game MVP.
What is Ichiro Suzuki famous for?
Ichiro Suzuki, (born October 22, 1973, Kasugai, Japan), Japanese baseball player who amassed the most total hits across all professional baseball leagues in the history of the sport. He was notably also the first non-pitcher to shift from Japanese professional baseball to the American major leagues. Suzuki played baseball from an early age.
What is the meaning of Ichiro?
The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime. Warner Books, 2004; retitled for the 2005 paperback to The Samurai Way of Baseball: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime.
What are the best Ichiro books?
Shields, David. "Baseball Is Just Baseball": The Understated Ichiro: An Unauthorized Collection Compiled by David Shields. Seattle: TNI Books, 2001. ISBN 0-9678703-1-3. Stewart, Mark. Ichiro Suzuki: Best in the West. Minneapolis: Millbrook Press, 2002. ISBN 0-7613-2616-2. Whiting, Robert.
What happened to Ichiro Ichiro in 2000?
In 2000, Ichiro was still a year away from being eligible for free agency, but the Blue Wave was no longer among Japan's best teams. Because the team would probably not be able to afford to keep him and would lose him without compensation in another year, Orix allowed him to negotiate with Major League clubs.
Is Ichiro in Japanese Hall of Fame?
Suzuki was the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (The Golden Players Club). He was a ten-time MLB All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run.
Who is Japan's most famous baseball player?
Ichiro Suzuki is the most accomplished Japanese player in MLB history, and it's only more impressive given his NPB accolades. As a member of the Orix BlueWave, he won three Pacific League MVPs, seven batting titles and seven Golden Gloves.
Why is Ichiro famous?
Ichiro Suzuki, (born October 22, 1973, Kasugai, Japan), Japanese baseball player who amassed the most total hits across all professional baseball leagues in the history of the sport. He was notably also the first non-pitcher to shift from Japanese professional baseball to the American major leagues.
How many hits did Ichiro have in Japan?
1,278 hitsIchiro tallied 4,367 hits in his professional career, the most of any player in baseball history. He tallied 3,089 hits in Major League Baseball and 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Is Ichiro the most famous person in Japan?
Darvish: Ichiro is the most famous person in Japan. He is like a god, and that's why it's huge for Japanese fans.
Is Ichiro the best Japanese player?
Ichiro is the best Japanese MLB player ever. Ichiro has been on the Seattle Mariners his entire MLB career. Ichiro has been one of the best players since his debut in 2001. He won the Rookie of the Year AND the American League MVP in his rookie year, the second player to ever do so.
Why did Yuji say Ichiro?
That is in reference to what Utahime said: 先輩を敬え！ (Respect your senpai!) This comes from the interview of baseball player Ichiro Suzuki, after Japan's championship in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. (Note that the article in the comments incorrectly points to the 2009 interview.)
Who has the most hits of all-time?
Pete RoseThis statistic shows the MLB all-time hits leaders as of July 2022. Pete Rose has the most hits in Major League Baseball history with 4,256 hits.
Did Ichiro get 4000 hits?
NEW YORK -- Ichiro Suzuki joined Pete Rose and Ty Cobb as the only players with 4,000 career hits in the highest levels of professional baseball. Ichiro's accomplishment comes with a little bit of a twist because his are the combined total between Japan and the American major leagues.
How good is Ichiro all time?
Ichiro Suzuki stole 509 bases, 35th all time. This was at an 81.3% success rate, which is great efficiency with great volume. Speed is usually the first tool to deteriorate for an aging player, and yet Ichiro stole 157 bases in his age 35-39 seasons, the 7th most in that timespan (2009-2013).
Is Ichiro the best baseball player ever?
While there has been plenty of debate over how Ichiro's totals stack up compared to Rose's, there's no question that the sheer volume of hits Ichiro collected puts him among the all-time great contact hitters in MLB history. Even taking his Japanese statistics out of the equation, his MLB hit total ranks 22nd all time.
Who is the hit king of baseball?
Pete RosePete Rose holds the Major League record for most career hits, with 4,256. Rose and Ty Cobb, second most, are the only players with 4,000 or more career hits.
Who is the best Japanese player ever?
Yuto Nagatomo. So here we have another football player who is one of.Makoto Hasebe. We can put him in.Shinji Okazaki. The other player who we can put him in the best Japanese soccer players ever list is Shinji Okazaki.Yasuhito Endo. ... Keisuke Honda. ... Kazuyoshi Miura. ... Shunsuke Nakamura. ... Hidetoshi Nakata.
Are there any Japanese MLB Hall of Famers?
Experts say “The Tornado” ushered in a new wave of Japanese, and more generally, Asian talent, to forever change baseball in the U.S. Greats to follow included Hideki Matsui, Ichiro Suzuki and Chan Ho Park, but despite their skill and the legions of international fans they brought with them, not a single Asian player, ...
Is Shohei Ohtani popular in Japan?
Shohei Ohtani is enormously popular in Japan and has developed popularity in America too. But a surprising Los Angeles Angels teammate of his has also become a hit in Japan too.
Is baseball popular in Japan?
Baseball remains the most popular team sport in Japan, with high school, university, and professional games attracting the public and dominating the media during the spring and summer months.
When did Ichiro play for Japan?
Ichiro played for the Japan national baseball team in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in March 2006. During the 15 March Japan-Korea game Ichiro was booed by a few spectators during every at-bat, reportedly 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." That, however, was an incorrect translation mostly spread to the public through ESPN. Ichiro was variously quoted as saying "I want to win in a way that the opponent would think, 'we cannot catch up with Japan for the coming 30 years'. We should not merely win the games." Japan would later beat Korea in the playoffs and win the tournament after defeating Cuba in the finals, 10–6. For the tournament, Ichiro had twelve hits including a home run, seven runs, and four stolen bases.
Why did Ichiro move to the US?
His move to the United States was viewed with some interest because he was among the first Japanese position players to play for an MLB team. In the same way that many Japanese teams had considered the 18-year-old Ichiro too small to draft in 1992, many Americans believed he would prove too frail to succeed against Major League pitching or endure the longer 162-game season. Ichiro made an auspicious debut with Seattle, and in the Mariners' eighth game revealed his tremendous throwing arm by gunning down Oakland's Terrence Long, who had tried to advance from first to third on a teammate's single to right field. That play would be dubbed "The Throw" by Japanese media covering Ichiro's progress.
How many years did Ichiro Suzuki play?
Ichiro Suzuki / ˈiːtʃɪroʊ suːˈzuːki / (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō, born 22 October 1973), also known mononymously as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō), is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played 28 seasons combined in top-level professional leagues. He spent the bulk of his career with two teams: nine seasons with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) in Japan, where he began his career, and 14 with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States. After playing the first 12 years of his MLB career for the Mariners, Suzuki played two and a half seasons with the New York Yankees before signing with the Miami Marlins. He played three seasons with the Marlins before returning to the Mariners in 2018.
What did Ichiro say about baseball?
The elder Suzuki 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 about a young baseball prospect's difficult road to success, with rigorous training demanded by the father. According to Ichiro, "It bordered on hazing and I suffered a lot."
Why was Ichiro given the #51?
After expressing no preference as to a uniform number, Ichiro was issued #51 by the Mariners. He was initially hesitant because it had previously been worn by pitching star Randy Johnson. To avoid insulting Johnson, Ichiro sent a personal message to the pitcher promising not to "bring shame" to the uniform. His trepidation was unfounded, as he had a remarkable 2001 season, accumulating a rookie-record 242 hits, breaking Lloyd Waner’s rookie record of 223 hits dating back in 1927, and the most hits by any MLB player since 1930. His perennial Gold Glove fielding led Safeco's right field to be dubbed " Area 51 ".
What was Ichiro's average in the ALCS?
However, on Ichiro's 28th birthday, Seattle's stellar season ended against the New York Yankees in the ALCS, as Ichiro was held to a .222 average during the series. Yankees manager Joe Torre had emphasized to his pitchers, "Do not let Ichiro beat you. He is the key to Seattle's offense.".
What was Ichiro's batting average in 1994?
Ichiro's .385 batting average in 1994 was a Pacific League record and won the young outfielder the first of a record seven consecutive batting titles. Ichiro 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.
2021 NPB Graphical Standings - Olympic Break
There's a clear haves/have-nots break in the CL. Also, go go Swallows!
YouTube Channels by former NPB players
The YouTube Channels by former NPB players are SO interesting. Are there any MLB players who talk about different styles and methods of batting, fielding, pitching, as well as tactics, old games, plays, players, managers, relationships, analysis of present players, etc.? (or should I ask this on r/mlb or r/baseball subs?)
Who was the first Japanese player to play in the Major Leagues?
The first Japanese player in the American major leagues was Masanori “Mashi” Murakami, who pitched for the San Francisco Giants in 1964-65. There wasn’t another in MLB until Hideo Nomo signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, but now there have been nearly 60 Japanese players who have come over. But the most accomplished and popular — by far — is Suzuki.
How old is Yusei Kikuchi?
TOKYO — Yusei Kikuchi, a 27-year-old left-handed pitcher with a 96-mph fastball, made his major league debut Thursday as the Seattle Mariners’ starting pitcher during the second game of their season-opening series at Japan’s Tokyo Dome against the Oakland Athletics. It was a historic moment — he became the first Japanese player to make his major league debut in his home country — but Kikuchi was still in the shadow of Japan’s biggest baseball star, Ichiro Suzuki.
Will Japan host the 2020 Olympics?
Even though Japan will host the 2020 Olympics, with baseball returning to the Games after being dropped in 2012 and 2016 and not being included as a medal sport until 1992 (it was a demonstration sport in seven previous Olympics), Suzuki has said he is not interested in playing.
Overview
Career in Japan
Ichiro made his NPB Pacific League debut in 1992 for the Orix BlueWave at the age of 18, but he spent most of his first two seasons in the farm system (accumulating 156 minor league hits and a .368 batting average) because his then-manager, Shōzō Doi, refused to accept Ichiro's unorthodox swing. The swing was nicknamed 'pendulum' (振り子打法, Furiko Dahō) because of the pendulum-like motion of his leg, which shifts his weight forward as he swings the bat, and goes against co…
Early life
Ichiro grew up in Toyoyama, a small town just outside Nagoya. At the age of seven, Ichiro joined his first baseball team and asked his father, Nobuyuki Suzuki (鈴木宣之), to teach him to be a better player. The two began a daily routine, which included throwing 50 pitches, fielding 50 infield balls and 50 outfield balls, and hitting 500 pitches, 250 from a pitching machine and 250 from his father.
Career in MLB
Due to an agreement between Japanese baseball and the MLB, Ichiro was not allowed to play in the United States before 2001. His move to the United States was viewed with some interest because he was among the first Japanese position players to play for an MLB team. In the same way that many Japanese teams had considered the 18-year-old Ichiro too small to draft in 1992, many A…
Playing style
Sportswriter Bruce Jenkins, writing in the San Francisco Chronicle, described Ichiro's distinctive style of play:
There's nobody like Ichiro in either league—now or ever. He exists strictly within his own world, playing a game 100 percent unfamiliar to everyone else. The game has known plenty of 'slap' hitters, but none who sacrifice so much natura…
Personality and influence
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 in Seattle the custom he began in Japan, he used his given name (written in rōmaji) on the back of his uniform instead of his family name, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball to do so since Vida Blue.
Endorsements
Over the course of his career, Ichiro has endorsed numerous Japanese brands, although he was more reluctant to enter endorsement deals with American companies. According to Forbes, at one point in his career, Ichiro earned roughly $7 million annually from endorsements, most of which came from Japanese companies.
He was the face of Kirin Brewery, a Japanese beer brand. He has endorsed Japanese brands suc…
Personal life
He has an elder brother, Kazuyasu Suzuki.
Ichiro married Yumiko Fukushima (福島弓子, Fukushima Yumiko), a former TBS TV announcer, on 3 December 1999, at a small church in Santa Monica, California. As of 2009 , they have a pet dog (Shiba Inu) named Ikkyu, a combination of the first character in each of his and his wife's first names. Th…