Staying in Seattle a "touchy subject … - 美國職棒

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作者: subaru (高統襪的神秘力量) 站內: Asian-MLB
標題: [新聞] Staying in Seattle a "touchy subject" for Ichiro Suzuki
時間: Thu May 17 09:20:28 2007


Staying in Seattle a “touchy subject” for Ichiro Suzuki

Updated 19h 13m ago
By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY
http://tinyurl.com/ywbmus

The wafer-thin Japanese ballplayer with the bewildering swing and
intriguing style possesses uncommon ardor, athletic integrity and
intelligence. As a bona fide baseball pioneer, he respects the national
pastime as if he were an apple pie-and-mom American. He is Ichiro.

One day soon, the 33-year-old Seattle Mariner, whose palpable joy for the
game is diminished by perpetual losing, might leave to play for your
favorite team.

If Ichiro Suzuki doesn't re-sign, he will depart the club that made him
the first Asian position player in the majors in 2001.


SUZUKI'S HIT MACHINE HUMMING: Has five vs. Angels


If a free agent for '08, bidding for the six-time All-Star should reach
the penthouse level of $15 million-$20 million a year.

Great expectations are nothing new for one of baseball's most popular,
and private, showmen.

Yet, it wasn't until he etched his name into history in 2004, with the
record for most hits in a season, that the fussbudget perfectionist
realized he could not become the idealized vision fans want.


"Ichiromania" left him drained

"Many people have this image of me. For a long time, I cared about that,"
the center fielder tells USA TODAY through an interpreter, during a rare
extended interview. "I often thought about what I could do to please them.
I was always chasing after that Ichiro. It became a struggle. I think I
was scared of what people were thinking of me.

"After 2004, I realized it was impossible to please them. I discovered I
needed to do what I needed to, (and) if people like it, that's good. I
became more confident. And that Ichiro became a part of me, instead of me
chasing after him.

"When people get placed upon a pedestal — when they start chasing after
that person on the pedestal — they become mannequin-like. People
striving for approval from others become phony. You should seek approval
from yourself."

Baseball's premier slap hitter could be the object of much love by
November. Or, by the July 31 trade deadline. Seattle has finished last
for three consecutive seasons in the American League West. It won 116
games Ichiro's first season but has not made the playoffs since. In a rare
move a few years ago, he criticized teammates (but not by name) in a
Japanese publication. He didn't like that they played cards in the
clubhouse while the team struggled.

Upon his arrival at spring training this season, Ichiro informed the
media that seeking a deal elsewhere as a free agent was a possibility.
Seattle fans wept in their coffee.

"There are degrees of unhappiness," Seattle skipper Mike Hargrove says.
"There are times in my marriage when I'm not real happy with my wife, but
I still love her and, overall, I like it. I know the fans and the city
love Ichiro. I think he loves them, too.

"Yeah, I think we have a chance to keep him. Until the day he walks,
I'll believe that."

The Mariners say they want to extend his deal and have him retire in a
Seattle uniform. Asked if he prefers to stay, Ichiro demurs: "It's a very
touchy subject right now, so I'd prefer not to answer."

He has made known his desire to play for a contender and receive proper
compensation. Ichiro is in the final season of a four-year, $44 million
contract extension.

The Mariners, one game above .500 entering Tuesday night against the AL
West-leading Los Angeles Angels, were second in that division. Their star
leadoff man was hitting a very un-Ichiro-like .286, far below his
towering .329 career average.

"How much a team would offer a player is an expression of how much the
team cares — respects — him," he says. "It's very important. How
important? Hard to say."

Ichiro, only 5-9, 170, has ascended to astounding heights since he began
in pro ball in 1992 for Japan's Orix Blue Wave (seven batting titles in
a row, three MVP awards). Three years ago in the majors he rapped out
262 hits, breaking George Sisler's lofty standard of 257 that had lasted,
remarkably, since 1920.

What Ichiro is most admired for doesn't show up in box scores: commitment
to fundamentals, a high baseball I.Q. and a "love and passion for the
game," Mariners bench coach John McLaren says.

"I think he's the only guy playing in the major leagues who can hit
.400," McLaren says. "If we played on (artificial turf), I know he could."

He is that sure. So is Ichiro, particularly when it comes to fulfilling a
dream. "Once I turn 40," he says, "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.


Disciplined approach to staying fit

His arm remains valuable, but it is his unorthodox hitting style from
the left side — using bats made of Japanese blue tamo wood that he
stores in a humidor to limit moisture — that has leveraged his future.

Sometimes, he takes a whack at the ball while moving forward in the
batter's box. Other times, he smacks pitches that appear unhittable. He
is the only player to begin his major-league career with six consecutive
200-hit seasons. Only Hall of Famers Willie Keeler (eight) and Wade
Boggs (seven) posted more.

"I know there are many people who watch me," he says. "If it's possible
for me to influence them — 'Wow, that was beautiful!' — or make them
think, 'That's different' ... well, to do (that) is not easily
accomplished. You must be hard on yourself."

Ichiro has batted .303 or higher (up to .372) every season while
scoring 101 runs or more. He can bloop 'em to any field and blast 'em
out — his 20 lifetime leadoff home runs are a franchise record.

Defensive gems are routine and his glove regularly is dipped in gold, to
go with that sterling-silver arm. On the basepaths, Ichiro had stolen 43
in a row over two seasons entering Tuesday, extending his AL record and
seven shy of tying Vince Coleman's big-league mark set in 1988-89.

The cost for his services will be substantial. Considering how long he
plans to play — possibly to 45 — it could be a bargain for a club to
sign an international superstar who generates multiple revenue streams.

"I feel the way I did when I was 20," he says. "I was told my body would
change when I hit 30, but it hasn't. But I am afraid, when I turn 40, of
perceptions about me. That's an artificial standard — don't consider me
the same as everyone else."

Such optimism flows from the reservoir of a lithe, rock-hard body and a
speedy metabolism. Ichiro is disciplined in workouts, if not always at
the dinner table. One evening during spring training he enjoyed two ice
cream bars and six 4-inch ?lairs — after wolfing down a seven-course
dinner prepared by his wife, Yumiko. "We have a saying in Japan: 'Your
main dish and dessert go to different stomachs,' " he says.

Ichiro has the same waist size as when he was 20. He is methodical and
programmed with his conditioning. In the offseason, he ran a long set of
stairs a tongue-wagging 44 times, a 90-minute session. Total steps during
21/2 months: 25,000-plus.

"Before I do it, I train on a 'little' hill," he says. "Very few people
can keep up with me because it's so difficult. My friends come with me.
Some throw up. As a joke, I got a lawyer to draw up a document that
said, 'Whoever tries this with me, if you die participating, I'm not
responsible for your death.' Nobody has signed it."

Ichiro laughs, then is serious: "Actually, I don't know if I'm that
disciplined. I only do what my body asks me to — not what my head tells
me to do. If I start doing things I don't like, baseball won't be fun
anymore."


No shortage of colorful opinions

He can be engaging, thoughtful and candid. When was the last time you
heard a major-leaguer say: "I really enjoy geniuses. I'm not impressed
by raw power. I'm moved more by beauty and grace."

‧ 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 (from hitters). The word 'cheating' doesn't apply
for me regarding steroids."

‧ Being an entertainer: "I want to be the kind of player who people feel
it is worth paying the money to come out and watch. ... When I meet
players who are playing just to win, that angers me."

‧ 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."

‧ Tiger Woods' athleticism: "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."

Not so Ichiro. He is a wonderful athletic specimen, a fascinating
dichotomy of combined cultures and divided allegiances. As a player, he
is quiet, introspective, philosophical — so respectful of the game that
he refuses to spit gum on the field. Dugouts are "disgusting" compared to
spic-and-span Japanese benches. He doesn't like the lack of privacy in
clubhouses (media are barred in Japan) because, as he says, smiling,
"You can see what color my underwear are."

Ichiro's reserved nature is partially reflective of his nationality, he
says.

"It's a weakness to try to show yourself to be more than you actually are.
To me, it's cooler to hide yourself, even if you're better than that,"
Ichiro says. "That's a big difference between Japanese and American
cultures. Sometimes, (Americans) try to make themselves out to be bigger
than they are."

At 69 inches, he stands taller than most.

Posted 22h 45m ago


SUZUKI'S OWN SATORIAL SENSE

Ichiro is very different - right down to his skivvies.

Off-field interests of the Seattle Mariners perennial All-Star don't
leave him fond of the most popular leisure pursuits among his peers, such
as fishing, hunting or smacking that other often-confounding white ball.

"I don't golf," he says. "That's something you can do when you get older.
There are some things I can only wear at this age."

Ichiro's hobbies include collecting Japanese-built exotic sports cars,
but he enjoys expressing himself most through his conception of haute
couture for young, hip males. Although he doesn't have a clothes line,
he collaborates with companies on jeans, shoes and other fashion-related
accessories.

"Sometimes, I even design my own underwear," Ichiro says. "My big brother
is a clothes designer, but he does hip-hop wear. That's not me."

He's not against trendy clothes, but he likes original thought for casual
attire. Still, Ichiro has been known to be quite the apparel plagiarizer:
He copied the cinematic fashion sense of the late Bruce Lee when he wore
(for fun) the same iconic, yellow- and black-striped body suit the late
kung fu king wore in Game of Death.

"I never did martial arts, but there's beauty in it. Bruce was amazing,"
Ichiro says. "When I was younger, I wore the same style of clothes he
did."

Ichiro's sartorial sense, revealed at his clubhouse cubicle: funky
sunglasses, gold sneakers, a silver-colored tote bag and a white polo
shirt adorned with a red skull.

"The majority of people in the clubhouse make fun of my clothing - but
I make fun of their clothes 100 times more," he says, with an animated
laugh.

"Anytime they say they like my stuff, that's when I start to worry. When
they make fun of it, I think, 'OK, I actually look good today.' "

By Jon Saraceno

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