Suzuki Ichiro , it seems that he has never left
"
He might die if he doesn't keep playing.
If he doesn't keep playing, he will die.
—Dee Gordon (Dee Gordon)
"
Suzuki Ichiro returned to the place where the dream began
44-year-old Suzuki Ichiro officially announced today: he will return to his own MLB where the dream began - Seattle sailor.
a year of US$750,000.
In the highest professional league in North America, it sounds a bit incredible that an Asian man continues his career at the age of 44.
But Suzuki Ichiro tells you calmly: "I want to hit until I'm 50."
He is not kidding.
1
Hero of Nobuki was once the leader of the Japanese in MLB in the 1990s
The first 10 years of the 20th century, and it was the 10 years when Asian players laid their position in the North American professional league.
If there were pioneers like Yemao Hero and Wang Zhizhi (selected at the draft in 1999) in the 1990s, and now the explosion of Asian players in the entire MLB. In the first 10 years of the 20th century, was a real star-level competition by digital elites in major leagues, allowing Americans to see the power of Asians.
Which of these two people is the number one in Asia
was very popular at the beginning
among the best ones, Yao Ming is one, and Suzuki Ichiro is one.
BBS or forums were popular at that time, but in non-football section topics, this seems to be debated forever:
Yao and Yilang, who are the number one people in Asia.
Suzuki Ichiro won two awards: MVP and Best Rookie
if he only compares his performance on the court, Suzuki Ichiro is undoubtedly the winner.
When he appeared on the major league stage in early 2001, he won two awards: MVP and Best Rookie in the season. This led to the MLB's subsequent modification of the league's "Best Rookie" judgment rules: "If a player has had career experience in other baseball leagues with considerable professional standards before entering the major leagues, he will not be regarded as a rookie."
In a sense, Suzuki Ichiro uses his personal strength to make the arrogant Americans recognize the strength of the Japanese baseball league.
Yao Ming let NBA understand the power of China
Yao Ming's supporters feel that basketball is a more popular sport around the world compared to baseball. Americans began to understand China, the giant dragon in the east because of Yao Ming.
At that time, outside the building of Seattle TV station was a huge poster by Suzuki Ichiro; and in Houston , Yao Ming's large billboard was also erected on the side of Highway 10.
Two yellow-skinned faces can become American city heroes, and their greatness does not require comparison.
Last season in the Miami Marlins, Suzuki Ichiro was still not old
Of course, many fans also believed that Suzuki Ichiro, who was 27 years old when he landed in MLB, had almost passed his career peak; and Yao Ming, who came to the United States at the age of 22, would get better and better.
No one expected that since 2008, 28-year-old Yao Ming continued to suffer from injuries. Two years later, he had no choice but to retire.
10 years have passed, and the 44-year-old Ichiro Suzuki is still waiting for his next game.
2
Suzuki Ichiro's composition at that time:
My dream is to become a first-class baseball player
Before, because of the advertisement of Japanese telecom giant NTT, many people outside of baseball fans also learned about Suzuki Ichiro's famous essay in the sixth grade.
"My dream is to become a first-class baseball player."
In this essay, Ichiro Suzuki told his teacher that he was indeed working hard for this goal.
"If you want to have excellent performance, practice is essential.I am confident that I can handle such exercises. I started practicing since I was 3 years old, although from the age of 3 to 7, I only train for about half a year. But from the third grade to now, I have been practicing hard for 365 days a year. "
Suzuki Ichiro was a child
You must have dreams when you were young, so that you can be motivated
At that time, Suzuki Ichiro must be a little proud of his practice day after day since the third grade.
I'm afraid he didn't even think of this habit. This habit has lasted for a full 35 years today.
35 years, and this sentence is definitely not a little exaggerated.
I have heard too many former teammates of Suzuki Ichiro tell stories about his hard training.
For example, even in the away game, every night, teammates will see him swing his baton in the hotel corridor for 10 minutes and then go back to the room Sleep.
Suzuki Ichiro's secret to success: day after day training
Or, the next story is more exaggerated than the 4 a.m. Los Angeles scene you are familiar with: Suzuki Ichiro will wake up at 1 a.m., in the dark night, constantly swing the baton until 4 a.m.
Suzuki Ichiro in Seattle The Mariners' former teammate Mike Swinney once told the story he had witnessed:
One year offseason, he and his wife were walking in New York one night and happened to pass Central Park. Then they found a person practicing the outfielder's field throwing action in a gap. Then the next second, Swinney was shocked. The guy threw the distance almost 300 feet (91 meters). "This is the level of a professional player! "Swini exclaimed at his wife, and then he walked forward to see who this guy was, and then found his familiar figure.
This is Suzuki Ichiro. Whether it is the 300 yen 10-time batting machine in his hometown of Nishikawahiko, or the downtown of Manhattan, it is a driving range where he constantly honed his baseball skills.
3
Darby Shuyou and Eiko Hinata
Japanese baseball stars are usually plagued by scandals. Currently, the most popular Japanese pitcher Darby Shuyou went to the United States after divorced his ex-wife and Japanese acting actress Saeko. "A The gossip of Matsui Hideki and Kuroki Hitomi are also talked about by people. Even the low-key Masahisa Tanaka was also with former country girl member Rida Mai. But Suzuki Ichiro's private life is extremely low-key.
Suzuki Ichiro married Fukushima Koko, who was 7 years older than him
In 1999, he married former TBS female anchor Fukushima Koko. At that time, Fukushima Koko was 33 years old, and Suzuki Ichiro was only 26 years old. In contrast, the "young husband" has a bright future, and the "old wife" was considered to be on the verge of a leftover woman at that time. Can this marriage continue? Suzuki Ichiro only responded: "We are like-minded. ”
Just before returning to Seattle today to sign with the Mariners, after a brief vacation in February, Suzuki Ichiro stayed in Kobe alone. Every day, he traveled back and forth between hotels and rented stadiums to practice. At this time, nothing could disturb him. And Gongzi returned to his home in Seattle: "He wants to keep his form and find the next team to play for. He only has baseball in his life, so I will watch quietly and not disturb him. "
I have this wife, what do you want to do with my husband?
Suzuki Ichiro and Gongzi have no children. Many people have complained to Gongzi, thinking that Yilan only has baseball in his eyes, nothing else, but Gongzi feels that this is the man he loves.
"For baseball, he is not even afraid of death. Of course, I will always accompany him and work hard with him to persevere. If he can't play, he will hate himself, and if he plays badly, he will hate him even more! When he was declining, when I woke up at night, I found that he would cry in his sleep, and then I hugged him tightly and accompanied him out of the trough. ”
If you get a wife like this, what else can your husband ask for?
When filming "Kohata Renzaburo", Tamura Masaka called Suzuki Ichiro.
is training every moment, treating baseball as life
to die for baseball. Gongzi's words are not sensational. In 2009, at the World Baseball Classic - you can understand it as the World Cup in the baseball world - Suzuki Ichiro led the Japanese team to the top, and in the overtime in the final, he gave a championship goodbye hit! No one knew that before the final, Suzuki Ichiro was still suffering from a stomach ulcer, and he had even penetrated a hole in his stomach. A few weeks after winning the championship, the new season of MLB began. The Mariners' team doctor told him that he was put on the injury list and would be unable to play on the opening day.
Swinney, who was teammate with Ichiro Suzuki at the time, admitted that in the locker room, Ichiro Suzuki refused to listen to the doctor's advice.
"Don't underestimate the stomach ulcer! You must cure it! If you don't rest, it will even kill you!" The team doctor was obviously angry and shouted at Suzuki Ichiro.
"I will not give up every opportunity to play." Suzuki Ichiro replied.
In the end, the team sent him to the ward.
Suzuki Ichiro - Legend continues
At the press conference for returning to the sailors today, Suzuki Ichiro still answered reporters' questions in Japanese. Many people were surprised that, after living in the United States for nearly 20 years, his English mastery was still almost zero.
Maybe you understand a little now, because for Suzuki Ichiro, his life is baseball. No other things that are taken for granted in the eyes of ordinary people cannot easily enter his life.
After the MLB regular season ended in October last year, Miami Marlins star wide receiver Dee Gordon returned to the team's locker room to get something. He heard the sound of the ball hitting the iron cage on the training ground next door. No surprises, it was Suzuki Ichiro, and Marlins had notified that they would not renew their contract with him. If they were to continue their career, the veteran would have to find another team.
"Yes, I know he is 44 years old, but I really hope he can continue to play." Gordon looked at Suzuki Ichiro on the side of the training ground: "Because I don't want him to die. I believe that if he stops playing basketball, he will die. If Ichirojun doesn't play baseball, what would he do? I can't imagine."
Author's postscript:
When I wrote this article, what I actually kept popping up in my mind was the words "drunk driving, smoking, lack of training, and wife group". Perhaps Suzuki Ichiro's greatness is due to his love for baseball, and such love is a bit extreme. But this is the one who can leave a name in sports history.
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