In his first season in major league baseball, Ichiro Suzuki has dazzled Baseball America and won the hearts of all Seattle. He has earned the friendship and respect of his teammates--and the awe of his opponents. He has made scouts eat their doubts, he has made believers of sportscasters and sportswriters, he has invigorated fans across the country--and across the ocean.
Only months into the Seattle Mariners' historic 2001 season, Ichiro was riding high among the American League's top ten in batting average, number of hits, number of runs, number of steals. For the mid-season All-Star Game, Ichiro was the Number One vote getter of all ballplayers. Not bad for a quiet, cool, collected guy from Japan whom no one in the West had heard of the year before.
When the Mariners take the field, the stadium rocks. When Ichiro goes to bat, the cheers begin, the banners wave, the painted bodies leap up. When Ichiro gets a hit, the crowd goes wild. When he comes home, the music begins.
The commentary in this 96-page book follows Ichiro from his nursery school days through elementary, junior high, high school, and his professional career in Japan, to his arrival in the U.S., through his appearance in the All Star Game and after. In numerous photographs (including 14 in full color and 57 in black and white.), we see him with his Seattle teammates, with baseball's leading stars, and with his fans across America. The commentary is by veteran sportswriter Jim Allen, who, based in Japan, has been keeping track of Ichiro's career right from the beginning.
