Yujiro Samurai Taniyama, Japan Broadcasting. net Editor in Chief
Utterly despondent I have been, for the past three days. Devastated and speechless.
Its not only me. The 126 million nationals of Japan, to say the least, as well as all the baseball fans across the world from Seattle, Los Angeles, New York, Florida, Cuba, Dominica, unhinged chubette Maduro’s Venezuela to Taiwan are highly likely sharing empathy, as well as sorrow, lamenting the departure of one of the greatest ball players the sport has ever produced.
The “shock” is presumably synonymous for ‘Magnide 51’ earthquake. It’s massive, and pretty palpable globally. Any suspicious reader (from Europe, Brazil or South East Asia that don’t seem to care less about baseball) should just Google search ICHIRO, and the results should give you some clues to what I am talking about.
The venerable man overcame immense diversities soon after he crossed the Pacific, from Kobe (known for the famous poshy beef) to Seattle, back in 2001. The majority of the Major League Baseball (MLB) fans in the U.S must have underestimated this Japanese newcomer with a funny name, that had just joined the Mariners. But as Nippon’s Shohei “ShoTime” Ohtani won the Rookie-of-the-year award last year, Ichiro immediately proved himself before the American public, that he will be the game-changer of MLB in the years to come.
2001 Rookie-of-the-year award was presented to Ichiro Suzuki.
To be blunt, I could not hold back my little tears, when I was watching the ball game between Seattle Mariners and Oalkland Athletics two days ago, which was held in Tokyo Dome. 45,000 tickets were all sold out. It was the beginning of the 19th MLB season for the Samurai-Batsman, and a world class outfielder. In 2004, ‘the MONSTER’ hit a record breaking 262 hits in one season. The rest is history.
Bushido, meanwhile literally means “Samurai way of life”. It’s comprised of codes that preach the importance of honesty, loyalty, as well as martial arts mastery. That said, I truly see ‘Bushi ‘, or Samurai in Ichiro. The big league icon became a “Magnitude 51” class phenomena as he is today, due to his loyalty to the fans, aspiration for the ‘martial arts’ of baseball, and sincerity towards his beliefs. While quite a few players in the big leagues tend to appear self-serving and self-important, Ichiro was all about self discipline. There’s a concrete substance that supports my narrative; the Seattle Great hit more than 4,300 hits in his professional career, more than any other player in recorded history.
Lastly, a good friend of mine Mr.Erico who lives near “T-Mobile stadium” in Seattle said to me yesterday ; “In the U.S, beer and baseball is like a hand in a glove. We’re gonna miss Ichiro, more than beer. He was a super role model for the kids too”.
I’m gonna miss him. Maybe you too.
But his unparalleled legacy shall live on indefinitely, just like the bravery of Miyamoto Musashi and all other extraordinary Samurais.
“My wife Yumico made approximately 2,800 rice balls for me during my MLB career. She was eager to reach 3,000. I wanted it to happen, but fell a bit short. “ , said Ichiro after announcing retirement.
3,089 hits by Ichiro.
2,800 rice balls by Yumico.
19 year old dog, and the ‘President’ of the family, Iqqyoo.
They all did a superb job, creating Ichiro’s positive demeanor on and off the field.
Thank you ‘Team I’, and good morning!
