New York (AFP) – Japanese superstar Ichiro Suzuki said he felt like a rookie all over again on Sunday when he and four other legends were enshrined into the Baseball Hall of Fame. CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, and the late Dave Parker and Dick Allen also were inducted into the sport’s honor roll at ceremonies near the Hall in Cooperstown, New York. But the moment was extra special for 51-year-old Suzuki, the first Japanese-born player to enter the Hall.
“Today, I’m feeling something I thought I would never know again,” Suzuki said. “For the third time, I am a rookie.”
Related news
“Ichiro” made his debut in the Japan League for the Orix BlueWave in 1992 and played there through 2000 before joining Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners, where his newcomer feeling led to an epic 18-year career as an outfielder whose bat control and ball placement were astonishing. Suzuki was a 10-time MLB All-Star and set an MLB record with 262 hits in a single season. He was the American League Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year in 2001, when he led the AL in batting and stolen bases. The only other MLB player with MVP and top rookie awards in the same year was Fred Lynn in 1975.
Suzuki finished his MLB career with 3,089 hits, a .311 batting average with 117 home runs, 780 runs batted in, and 509 stolen bases. Suzuki was a near-unanimous selection for the Hall in a media poll, one ballot failing to go his way in his first time as a candidate. Suzuki had invited that writer to dinner, but in his speech said, “the offer for that writer to have dinner at my home has now expired.”
When he wasn’t drawing laughter, Suzuki was opening up about the transition he made from Japan to the United States. “I think you can imagine, there was much doubt when I tried to become the first position player from Japan in MLB,” he said. “But it was more than just that. There was criticism and negativity. Someone even said to me, ‘Don’t embarrass the nation.’ The person who supported me the most was my wife, Yumiko. It would only be natural if she had doubts too. But she never made me feel them…I tried to be consistent as a player, but she was the most consistent teammate I’ve ever had.”
Suzuki also recalled facing doubters who questioned if a fielder of his size could make it in MLB. “If you consistently do the little things, there is no limit to what you can achieve,” Suzuki said. “Look at me. I’m 5-foot-11 (1.80m) and 170 pounds (77.1kg). When I came to America, many people said I was too skinny to compete with bigger Major Leaguers. The first time I ran out on the field, I was in awe of the competition, but I knew if I stuck to my beliefs about preparation, I could overcome the doubts. Even my own.”
© 2024 AFP
