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"I can do that (foul off pitches) intentionally. They were borderline. And I was trying to get the pitcher to make a mistake." Source: Associated Press (June 15, 2002)
"I didn't know I hit that way (.625 with runners in scoring position). Maybe not knowing is my secret. If I chased numbers, maybe I wouldn't have as good results." Source: Seattle Times (May 16, 2001)
"If that is true (Joe Torre's comment, 'Do not let Ichiro beat you. He is the key to Seattle's offense.') it would give me great joy. But I don't believe it." Source: Baseball Digest (November 2002 Issue)
"I'm anxious to face them (major league pitchers) all, but in reality I'm looking forward most to (Boston's) Pedro Martínez. He was with the major league team that came to Japan in 1996, just before he became a superstar. I'm anxious to see how much he's improved. And I'm anxious to see how much I've improved against him." Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Report (February 21, 2000)
"I'm not a big guy and hopefully kids could look at me and see that I'm not muscular and not physically imposing, that I'm just a regular guy. So if somebody with a regular body can get into the record books, kids can look at that. That would make me happy." Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Report (August 14, 2004)
"I'm told I either look bigger than I do on television or that I look smaller than I look on television. No one seems to think I look the same size." Source: Tacoma News Tribune (May 23, 2001)
"In baseball, even the best hitters fail seven of ten times, and of those seven failures there are different reasons why. Some are personal failures, others are losses to the pitcher. You just get beat. In those personal failures, I felt I could have done better." Source: Baseball Digest (November 2002 Issue)
"When I came here to play, I didn't know where I would be (in respect to breaking George Sisler's single season hit record) or where I wouldn't be." Source: Associated Press (June 11, 2001)
"When I look at the records and see where my place in the history of the game (in Japan with Orix) might be, I guess you could say it was a good decision to come here. It's not just me. Maybe I'll have an effect on others in the international part of the game." Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Report (August 14, 2004)
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"About a dozen Japanese journalists cover Suzuki on a daily basis this season, down from roughly 50 two years ago. But that doesn't mean he's yesterday's news. Cameras still are trained on the Seattle right fielder during warmups, reminiscent of the scrutiny directed at British royalty. A buzz floats through the Safeco Field crowd each time he steps into the batter's box." - The Olympian (May 18, 2003)
"How did Ichiro manage two hits against Sabathia when the rest of his teammates managed three? With 226 hits and 25 games in which to match the major league single-season hits record (257), can he break that mark? 'You want to know the color of my underwear, too?' Ichiro said Monday. 'You guys are starting to ask questions like the Japanese writers used to.' - The News Tribune (Larry LaRue, September 7, 2004)
"Ichi's more confident. He went through the wars last year, and I don't think he has any doubts now. He knows he's good. Of course, he might not have had any doubts last year. But you still have to go out and do it, and he did it. There's a big difference from knowing you're good but you haven't done it. He knows now he belongs." - Lou Piniella in Baseball Digest (November 2002 Issue)
"In his first year in the U.S., Ichiro (he goes by his first name, which means first-born son) shattered decades-old baseball records, including most hits by a rookie, which was set by legendary Shoeless Joe Jackson in 1911. A tricky speedster as good with his glove as his bat, Ichiro led his team to an astonishing 116 victories (tying the 95-year-old mark for most wins in a season) while also garnering the American League batting title, Rookie of the Year honors and Most Valuable Player award—a gloriously rare trifecta." - TimeAsia.com (Tim Larimer, 2004)
"Japanese professional baseball player, whose achievements in Japan and in Major League Baseball (the top professional league in the United States and Canada) have made him (Ichiro Suzuki) one of the world's best players." - Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia (Suzuki, 2004)
"There's nobody like Ichiro in either league—now or ever. He exists strictly within his own world, playing a game 100 percent unfamiliar to everyone else. The game has known plenty of 'slap' hitters, but none who sacrifice so much natural ability for the sake of the art. Maury Wills wasn't going to do anything but hit singles. Matty Alou wasn't a slugger in disguise. Ichiro, a man of wondrous strength, puts on impressive power-hitting displays almost nightly in batting practice. And he'll go deep occasionally in games, looking very much like someone who could do it again, often. Mostly, though, Ichiro is death by handkerchief. In the first inning, with lefty Mark Redman nibbling on the outside corner, Ichiro sliced a groundball single between third and short. Next time up, with the A's perhaps leaning that way again, he singled through the other side of the diamond. The man lives for hits, little tiny ones, and the glory of standing atop the world in that category. Every spring, scouts or media types write him off, swearing that opposing pitchers have found the key, and they are embarrassingly wrong." - Bruce Jenkins in The San Francisco Chronicle (July 28, 2004)
"The speedy, smart, clutch-hitting outfielder has since become possibly the best player in baseball. Nobuyuki Suzuki, Ichiro's father, is largely responsible for helping develop Ichiro's athletic talent. From the time Ichiro was eight, the elder Suzuki would help him practice his fielding, throwing and hitting. They also made countless trips to a local batting center. These practice sessions continued through Ichiro's high school years, culminating in Ichiro being drafted out of high school by the Orix BlueWave." - The Seattle Times
"The way he hits is just like a samurai. I'll bet he could split a mosquito with a sword." - Baseball Fan Isao Ogata at Tokyo's Jingu Stadium in TimeAsia.com (Tim Larimer, 2004)
"When Ichiro steps into the batter's box, no one—the pitcher, the shortstop, the fans, even his teammates—has any idea what he is planning... He may be the Madonna of baseball, reinventing himself periodically to keep people guessing." - Baseball Digest (November 2002 Issue)
"When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it (in Japan). He's that big." - Ichiro Suzuki's Agent Tony Attanasio
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