Ichiro Suzuki

A Key to Make Your Dreams Come True

Do you know Ichiro Suzuki? He is a Japanese baseball player that has been active in the United States for over 15 years and currently plays in Miami Marlins. Before coming to the U.S., he had a career in Japan, so he has been playing baseball for 25 years in the U.S. and Japan in total. Even though he is 43, apparently his physical age is in his mid-twenties. Some people call him “a natural born master.” Is that true?

Ichiro Suzuki was born and raised in Aichi, Japan in 1973. At age of three, he’s started playing baseball. What inspired him to start playing baseball? His father brought a toy bat and ball for him, and since that day, Ichiro was with those toys even while in bed. When he was 9 years old, he joined a local boys’ baseball team, however, the practice he had in the team wasn’t enough. Ichiro asked his father to be a training partner, and he accepted it on one condition. “Practice every single day whatever the weather.”

He kept making efforts, and eventually, he entered one of strongest prestigious high schools for baseball in japan. Usually athletes tend to not do good at study, however, Ichiro was a student of high scholastic standing. He has mentioned study and practice in an interview. “Of course, I really don't like to study and practice. But I’ve always liked to have a purpose in life and make efforts for it. Who don’t love to be repaid for the efforts?” Ichiro said.

After graduation from high school, Ichiro has become a professional baseball player naturally. He had played in professional baseball league in Japan for 8 years then decided to demonstrate his ability in the U.S. In 2001, he has started belonging to Seattle Mariners as a position player. He was traded to New York Yankees in 2012, then traded to Miami Marlins in 2015. On June 15^th 2016, Ichiro collected 4,257 career hits and broke Pete Rose’s all-time record of 4,256. This was such a big news for all Japanese people was on media each and every day in Japan. However, Pete Rose didn’t accept it because 1,278 of the career hits came in Japanese baseball league. But Ichiro had a perfect response for Pete. “For me, it's not about the record, it’s about my teammates and the fans,” Ichiro said. Also he said, “I was actually happy to see the Hit King (Pete Rose) get defensive. I kind of felt I was accepted.”

It seems like everything was smooth and went well for him, but it wasn’t a case. But he doesn’t like to show off that he makes a lot of efforts to be active in the front lines or how much he has suffered. He was just a boy like others but there’s one thing that’s totally different from others. It’s that he had a specific dream and went for it even though he sometimes felt he doesn’t want to practice. It’s great to have big dreams but in order to make them come true, you need to have faith in yourself and keep making efforts.