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Ichiro Suzuki

Mariners Seek Out Suzuki's Services

Suzuki's outstanding performance on the baseball diamonds of Japan had not gone unnoticed on the other side of the Pacific. So excited were the Seattle Mariners about the possibility of landing Suzuki that the team paid the Blue Wave just over $13 million for the right to offer the dynamic batter a contract. On November 18, 2000, Suzuki signed a three-year deal with the Mariners. The contract was reportedly worth about $16 million. The ballplayer and his wife flew to Seattle and fell almost immediately in love with their new home. They were particularly pleased to find a city where they could go out in public without being mobbed by fans and the local paparazzi.

America's Suzuki fans were not disappointed when their hero finally made his debut in Major League Baseball in April 2001. The Japanese import kicked off his American baseball career with a 23-game hitting streak that fell only one game short of the club record set by Joey Cora. With two home runs and a total of eleven RBIs, Suzuki batted .336 in his first twenty-five games with the Mariners. But his statistics only seemed to get better with time. By season's end, he boasted a batting average of.350 with a total of 242 hits. Suzuki also became the first rookie ever to garner the most ballots for the All-Star Game. A big factor in his All-Star balloting popularity was the decision by Major League Baseball to distribute ballots in Japan. After the end of the regular season, Suzuki became the first rookie since Fred Lynn (in 1975) to win both the MVP and Rookie of the Year awards.

Chronology

1973	Born October 22 in Kasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan
1982	Joins local baseball club at the age of 8
1992-2000	Plays nine seasons with Japan's Orix Blue Wave
1999	Marries television personality Yumiko Fukushima
2000	Signs three-year contract with Seattle Mariners
2001	Makes major league debut with Seattle Mariners

Related Biography: Manager Akira Ogi

Not until Akira Ogi was brought in as the new manager of Kobe's Orix Blue Wave in 1994 did Ikiro Suzuki truly come into his own as a player. Before Ogi arrived on the scene, tension between the previous manager, Shozo Doi, and Suzuki had kept the batter from performing at his best. Doi, frustrated by Suzuki's failure to follow his orders, kept the player in the minors for much of Suzuki's first two years. Among the first things Ogi did after joining the Blue Wave was to bring Suzuki back to the majors. Confident that the batter had what it took, he added him as starter and then just left him alone to do his own thing.

Suzuki did not disappoint, batting .385 and tallying a record 210 hits in the 1994 season. Suzuki's breakthrough, under the guidance of Ogi, helped to power the Blue Wave to Pacific League pennants in both 1995 and 1996. In 1995, Ogi's team faced off against the Yakult Swallows in the Japan Series, losing the series in five games to the Swallows. The Blue Wave went all the way in 1996, vanquishing the Yomiuri Giants in the fifth game of the Japan Series.

Before beginning his career as a manager, Ogi played second base for the Nishitetsu Lions from 1954 to 1967, compiling a batting average of.229 with seventy home runs in 1,328 games. Ogi coached the Kintetsu Buffalos from 1988 to 1992, winning a Pacific League pennant in 1989.

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Famous Sports StarsBaseballIchiro Suzuki Biography - Born In Kasugai, Japan, Comes Into His Own In 1994, Mariners Seek Out Suzuki's Services - CONTACT INFORMATION