I like Ichiro

[OleMissCub]

This is pretty classy.

 

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4329684

 

 

During an All-Star Weekend when history is made and honored, Ichiro Suzuki paid respects to a man whose achievements are linked with his own.

 

Ichiro, in St. Louis for his ninth All-Star Game, visited the grave of St. Louis Browns star George Sisler, whose single-season record of 257 hits was broken by the Mariners outfielder in October 2004.

 

"I wanted to do that for a grand upperclassman of the baseball world," Ichiro told MLB.com. "I think it's only natural for someone to want to do that, to express my feelings in that way."

 

Ichiro, accompanied by his wife, Yumiko, and some friends, laid flowers at Sisler's grave, at Des Peres Presbyterian Church Cemetery. Sisler, a Hall of Famer, died on March 26, 1973. His career was marked by a lifetime .340 batting average, and a .407 average in 1920. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1939.

[Gingerballs Lives]

Ichiro is a cool guy.

[BCVM22]

The look on his face when the President was signing an autograph for him was pretty great.

[TruffleShuffle]

he's also a really damn good player. overrated by some because of the BA, but underrated by a lot of the "OPS is everything" crowd because his defense and baserunning are fantastic. i know a lot of people warned that once he lost bat speed he'd go from good to bad really quickly, but he's 35 and is hitting .362... so he'll probably be good for a while.

 

it'll be interesting to see if he can get to 3000 hits in MLB despite playing his first 7 full seasons in japan. if you combine his hits in japan and in the u.s. he has 3211 - obviously it's weaker competition in japan, but it's also fewer games. he'd probably have already reached the 3000 hit mark if he'd played in the u.s. is entire career, and would have a good chance at breaking rose's record. in fact i wouldn't be shocked if he ends up with close to 5000 hits between orix and seattle.

[WreckingMachine]

Awhile ago, but the genuis that is Ichiro.

 

Ichiro is in a class all his own, not only as an athlete but as a human being. And in the fourth inning of yesterday’s game in New York, I realized why.

 

Caught in a rundown between first and second base, instead of submitting himself and slowing down in defeat, right as he was about to get tagged he peeled off and immediately starting jogging towards the Mariners’ dugout. “I don’t like to be touched,” he said after the game.

 

For those unfamiliar with how unique of a person Ichiro truly is, a few of his most memorable quotes:

 

* On his impressions of Korea: “It smells like garlic.”

 

* On his physical appearance: “I’m told I either look bigger than I do on television or that I look smaller than I look on television. No one seems to think I look the same size.”

 

* On how to break out of a slump: “If I’m in a slump, I ask myself for advice.”

 

* On the Japanese character: “The Japanese have a strong tendency to suppress their own feelings. That’s the Japanese character. They kill their own emotions.”

 

* On Joe Torre game-planning for him: “If that’s true (Torre’s comment, ‘Don’t let Ichiro beat you. He is the key to Seattle’s offense.’) it would give me great joy. But I don’t believe it.”

 

* On why he missed a fly ball: “The ball became the same color as the sky. So, I wasn’t able to see it… I was sending mental signals for the ball not to come my way, because during that time of day it’s impossible for me to see the ball so I lacked mental signals. I lacked in that area. Usually, I don’t send mental signals. So, because this is the first time, I thought, please don’t come my way.”

 

* On re-signing with Seattle: “[My dog] said, ‘Woof, woof, woof,’ which meant, ‘Stay, stay, stay.’ Of course, I listened.”

 

* On athletes and girls: “Tiger is a great golfer, but … when you say athlete, I think of Carl Lewis. When you talk about (golfers or race-car drivers), I don’t want to see them run. It’s the same if you were to meet a beautiful girl and go bowling. If she’s an ugly bowler, you are going to be disappointed.”

 

* On his plans for the night: “I’m going to throw a party tonight.”

 

* On words he dislikes: “Personally, I don’t like the term ’success.’ It’s too arbitrary and too relative a thing. It’s usually someone else’s definition, not yours.”

 

* On facing Taiwan and Korea in the World Baseball Classic: “I will make them see that they won’t beat Japan for the next 30 years.”

 

* On speeding up the game: “Yesterday when I played, inside my head I said ‘I want to go home quickly,’ and I swung and I was able to get a hit because I wanted to go home. Today I thought, ‘I want to hurry up and get something to eat,’ and I swung and got a hit today.”

 

* On his personal battles with Dice-K: “I hope he arouses the fire that’s dormant in the innermost recesses of my soul. I plan to face him with the zeal of a challenger.”

 

* On his physical toughness: “I’ll walk on my hands before I use crutches.”

 

* On what scoring runs early does to opponents: “To be able to get three runs like that, I’m sure allowed us to give our opponents major mental damage.”

 

* On performance-enhancing drugs: “When you take steroids, it’s not as if wings grow out of your back, and you start flying all over the place and stealing home runs.”

 

* On Pete Rose: “No one can deny his 4,000-plus hits. The gambling thing is something different. On the front of his Hall of Fame plaque they should put all of his records and amazing feats. When you flip it over, it should say, ‘He gambled on baseball.’ But I would vote for him.”

 

* On movies: “I like “Miss Congeniality.” I like Sandra Bullock. And “A Beautiful Mind.” I also like “Face/Off.”

 

* On visiting Cleveland: “To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”

 

* On getting booed: “I actually welcome boos as part of the game. I really love to see that from my opponent’s fans. Last night, I think that those fans didn’t boo hard enough.”

 

* On becoming a pitcher: “Once I turn 40 I can become a pitcher. I’m kind of serious about it. But I’ll have to learn to throw a knuckleball. Right now, I could be a ‘normal’ pitcher, who can top out at 95 mph with a fastball.”

 

* On himself: “I’m unique. I’m a very rare kind of player.”

[ArthurVandalay]

Those quotes were amazing. Ichiro's hilarious. I wish more players had unique personalities like that.

[OleMissCub]

Now I like him even more. He rules.

[Gingerballs Lives]

Those quotes were amazing. Ichiro's hilarious. I wish more players had unique personalities like that.

 

 

Absolutely, he truly is unique.

 

I remember a funny quote when he was talking about Brett Boone. He said something along the lines of, "I don't think of him as a human being, the things he does makes me think of him as more of a creature, and I treat him as such."

[erik316wttn]

I had read reports that Ichiro was almost universally disliked by his teammates. Any truth to that?

[BCVM22]

More:

 

And:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-ichirospeech071508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

“It’s why we win,” David Ortiz said.

 

He pointed to Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners’ wisp of an outfielder, a man who still uses a translator to do interviews with English-speaking reporters – and happens to be baseball’s amalgam of Anthony Robbins and George Carlin. Every year, after the AL manager addresses his team, Ichiro bursts from his locker, a bundle of kinetic energy, and proceeds, in English, to disparage the National League with an H-bomb of F-bombs, stunning first-timers who had no idea Ichiro speaks the queen’s language fluently and making returnees happy that they had played well enough to see the pep talk again.

[NewUserName]

“To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”

 

I had milk coming out my nose on this one

[TruffleShuffle]

More:

 

And:

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=jp-ichirospeech071508&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

 

“It’s why we win,” David Ortiz said.

 

He pointed to Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners’ wisp of an outfielder, a man who still uses a translator to do interviews with English-speaking reporters – and happens to be baseball’s amalgam of Anthony Robbins and George Carlin. Every year, after the AL manager addresses his team, Ichiro bursts from his locker, a bundle of kinetic energy, and proceeds, in English, to disparage the National League with an H-bomb of F-bombs, stunning first-timers who had no idea Ichiro speaks the queen’s language fluently and making returnees happy that they had played well enough to see the pep talk again.

 

ahahahaha those are great. and the cleveland quote is epic, mostly because it's true.

 

put him in the hall of fame now.

[laurens]

When he was signed by Seattle, he also wrote a letter to Randy Johnson to ask him permission to wear number 51 (that had been issued to him because he didn't have a preference).

 

I like Ichiro. He holds respect in high regard (I don't know if that's an actual English sentence, but I don't know how else to put it)

[XZero771679666304]

Ichiro is easily my favorite non-Cubs player.

[laurens]

Ichiro is easily my favorite non-Cubs player.

 

Kerry Wood.

[NotSoSober]

I've been a huge fan since I saw this

 

I'm going to assume it's NSFW since there's one bad word, and if it's against guideliness I'm sorry and remove it.

 

[XZero771679666304]

Ichiro is easily my favorite non-Cubs player.

 

Kerry Wood.

 

I'll always consider Kerry a Cub.

[Tracer Bullet]

I hope when he turns 40 he becomes a closer throwing 95 mph.

[OleMissCub]

I've been a huge fan since I saw this

 

I'm going to assume it's NSFW since there's one bad word, and if it's against guideliness I'm sorry and remove it.

 

 

that's awesome! he messed up the world placement though.. it's supposed to be "two rats [expletive] in a wool sock."

[Wsmith]

I had read reports that Ichiro was almost universally disliked by his teammates. Any truth to that?

After reading this thread, I can't imagine that could be true.

[Clem Fandango]

I had read reports that Ichiro was almost universally disliked by his teammates. Any truth to that?

After reading this thread, I can't imagine that could be true.

 

He does seem like he has a chip on his shoulder. Sort of a "holier than thou" sense of demeanor about him... but he's still hilarious, and I can't imagine he treats his teammates like crap. Maybe they don't like his opinion of himself, but I doubt he's Jack Parkman in the clubhouse

[javy knows my name]

I had read reports that Ichiro was almost universally disliked by his teammates. Any truth to that?

After reading this thread, I can't imagine that could be true.

 

He does seem like he has a chip on his shoulder. Sort of a "holier than thou" sense of demeanor about him... but he's still hilarious, and I can't imagine he treats his teammates like crap. Maybe they don't like his opinion of himself, but I doubt he's Jack Parkman in the clubhouse

Eccentric can sometimes rub people the wrong way

[Derwood]

I had read reports that Ichiro was almost universally disliked by his teammates. Any truth to that?

After reading this thread, I can't imagine that could be true.

 

He does seem like he has a chip on his shoulder. Sort of a "holier than thou" sense of demeanor about him... but he's still hilarious, and I can't imagine he treats his teammates like crap. Maybe they don't like his opinion of himself, but I doubt he's Jack Parkman in the clubhouse

Eccentric can sometimes rub people the wrong way

 

particularly in a sport populated mostly by good ol' boys and latinos

[DiamondMind]

I saw Ichiro at SAFECO for the first time last week. The guy is a freaking machine. His pre-AB routine is exactly the same, each and every time, it just never changes. He also does an insane amount of stretching/tension work pre game, which is pretty cool to watch too. I think if he was born quite a bit in the past, the guy would be a samurai. His discipline is amazing. Plus the fans just go bonkers over him, which is fun to experience.

 

And as far as not being liked by his teammates, that's not true. According to my (life-long M's fan) friend, if anything, people probably feel intimidated by him. He puts so much work and effort into his own game, he probably creates some resentment from those who aren't willing to match it. I hear the same sort of things about players like Kobe or MJ. They just demand excellence from those around them, and some people just take that the wrong way.

[chuckywang]

From Jason Bay:

http://fullcount.weei.com/sports/boston/baseball/red-sox/2009/07/15/two-days-ill-never-forget/

 

Workout day. I run back in from the field to get sunglasses. Locker room completely empty except Ichiro stretching on the floor and his translator sitting on the chair beside him. Sow we make small talk, and I ask him where he lives in Seattle because I lived in the suburbs.

 

Well, I had barely got the last word out when Ichiro says something in Japanse. Then his translator turns to me, deadpanned and straight-faced and says, “I’m going to mess with your house.” The way he said it was malicious, and Ichiro is on the floor dying laughing like it was the funniest thing ever. I was just like, “OK, I’ll see you guys out there.” I didn’t know what to say. It was weird.