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| Suzuki Ichiro | |
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| Date of Birth | 22 October 1973 | |
| Place of Birth | Aichi | |
Ichiro Suzuki was born in Aichi prefecture. When he was 3 years old, he started to play with ball and bat. When Ichiro was 8 years old, he insisted he wanted to play baseball, so he became a member of baseball club of his town. His father also became the manager of the club. However the activity was only on Sundays, so he decided to practice the baseball with his father on weekdays. Since then, for 4 years they continued to practice one-to-one everyday. When he was in high school, he participated in twice "Koshien" which is the National High School Baseball Tournament. The end of high school, the Orix Blue Waves, which is a professional baseball team, drafted him. His dream came true; he had became a professional baseball player as an outfielder.
Last year Akira Ogi became the manager of Orix Blue Waves and changed name on the back of Ichiro's uniform to "Ichiro" from "Suzuki", which was unique. At first he was ashamed of that name, however now the fans have grown fond of it. Since then he played actively, participated in All Stars Game, and got to first base 57 continuous games. It's a new Japanese record. He also registered 210 hits for a batting average of .385 which also a new Japanese record. He won many prizes including MVP. Besides he won the prize of honor in his birthplace. His batting style is unique, like a pendulum. He has become today's baseball hero.
This year (1998) the Orix Blue Waves won the Pacific League pennant. Ichiro contributed greatly to this victory.
Article about Ichiro in FRIDAY
References: All Kansai, August 1995, pp6-11
Reported by: Masanori Kitagawa
Date of Report: November 1995
Go to Masanori's Homepage
Updated by: Emiko Okamoto, May 1998