Ichiro at the Bat in Tokyo, March, 2012. Courtesy this morning of Drew Silva, NBC Hardball.
“From Jeff Baker of the Seattle Times comes this shot of Mariners outfielder and native of Japan Ichiro Suzuki getting ready to bat in Saturday’s exhibition game against the Hanshin Tigers. The Mariners lost the game 5-0 in front of a raucous sold out crowd of 55,000 at the Tokyo Dome.” Drew Silva, NBC Hardball.
I love this picture, probably because it’s rumored and most likely true that 2012 will probably be Ichiro Suzuki’s last year not only as a Seattle Mariner, but also in Major League Baseball. I hear he’ll probably be returning to baseball in Japan and who could blame him? Evidently you can mail a letter to Ichiro in Japan, addressed only to “Ichiro” and he’ll get it. That’s how popular he is in Japan and he may be just as popular here, especially in the Seattle area.
The Seattle Mariners are in Japan for a two-day stand to open the 2012 regular season against the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday and Thursday of this week. Wouldn’t you just love to be there? But hang tough. We’re almost there – to opening day I mean!
Related articles
- Ichiro a Hit in Seattle’s Loss to Hanshin Tigers (abcnews.go.com)
- Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki Open To Possibility Of Not Batting Leadoff (tracking.si.com)
- “Play Ball!” Seattle Mariners head to Japan (bizjournals.com)
- Excited A’s depart for Opening Series in Japan (mlb.mlb.com)
Garlicfriesandbaseball's Blog 