Ichiro Suzuki leads class of 5 into Hall of Fame
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Former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki makes humorous reference to the voter who snubbed him during his Hall of Fame speech
Ichiro Suzuki is officially a Hall of Famer and has solidified his legacy. During his Hall of Fame speech, Suzuki opened up about signing with the Miami Marlins
The author of 4,367 hits over 28 seasons across Japan and America didn’t use an interpreter as he had during a media session on Saturday. He delivered his speech in English, and he was talking at one point about the Mariners, then the Yankees and then the next team on his 19-season major-league journey.
There's the batting style that had Ichiro flying toward first base almost before he had even made contact with the baseball, the hand-eye coordination that allowed Ichiro to drop a hit to any segment of the field he chose seemingly on command, the legendary preparation and throwing arm and underrated sense of humor.
When Bryan Woo gets to the field every day, Ichiro Suzuki is already there. Taking batting practice. Shagging fly balls. Playing catch. He hangs around after too, offering any advice he can to the current generation of Mariners players.
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“Lou Piniella was very skeptical,” said Larry Stone, a Seattle Times baseball writer who has covered Ichiro’s career extensively. “That spring training, Ichiro started off not pulling the ball, not driving the ball. And Lou was like, ‘Who is this guy? When is he going to show me something?’”