Ichiro Suzuki, one of the few athletes in history to excel in two different countries has officially retired. The Seattle Mariners began this season playing the Oakland A's in Tokyo, in Ichiro's home country. Ichiro was pulled out of the game in the 8th inning of the second and final game of the series. He received a long standing ovation.
Ichiro started with the Mariners in 2001, after three of the biggest stars in the team's history, Ken Griffey, Jr, Randy Johnson, and Alex Rodriguez had departed to other teams. It was that year that the Mariner won an amazing 116 games. Ichiro won MVP and Rookie Of The Year awards in the American League, The team was unable to make it to the World Series, though and dark times returned for the team.
Ichiro's popularity began to wane as stories appeared that he could hit home runs but chose to hit singles and other unflattering stories, either true or untrue, began making their rounds on talk radio. Of course, with the Mariners playing poorly, Ichiro was a visible target.
Ichiro, who is still beloved in his native Japan, retires with a batting average of .311 and 3089 hits. He is a surefire Hall Of Famer and like LeBron James, a sports hero known more for his first name than his last.
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