Ichiro Suzuki is four years removed from his last major league game, but that does not mean he’s still not a dominant force on the diamond — especially against high school competition.
The baseball legend and surefire Hall-of-Fame outfielder took to the mound during his annual All-Star game at the Tokyo Dome on Tuesday and dominated a team of the top high school girls in Japan, throwing a complete game shutout on 116 pitches, striking out nine along the way in a 4-0 victory for his squad.
Oh, and he batted ninth and went 2-for-5 with a double.
It’s not the first time Ichiro has shown his pitching prowess in this All-Star Game, as he struck out 17 on an absurd 147 pitches in 2021.
Ichiro was well-regarded in his big league career for his cannon arm in right field but threw just one big league inning in his career, allowing two hits and a run in an inning of work for the Marlins against the Phillies during a 2015 game.
He topped out around 88 mph during that game, when he was 41 years old.
Even eight years later, Ichiro, playing with a team of former professionals that included Daisuke Matsuzaka, did not lose much on his fastball, hitting 86 mph on the radar gun with his fastball.
A 10-time major league All-Star, Ichiro had gone hitless in the past two All-Star contests he’s hosted, so this time, he was happy to have collected a couple of base knocks.
“Personally, I’m glad that it was a hit. I was so happy,” Ichiro told reporters after the game. “I’ve had some decent hits as a professional, so I was frustrated and frustrated. I set a goal of one as a batter no matter what. I’m so happy.”
But, that doesn’t mean he didn’t look foolish at the plate at least one.
During an at-bat late in the game, Ichiro was down 0-2 in the count and took a pitch that just caught the outside corner, and he was rung up on a strikeout.
As someone who only struck out in a little over 10 percent of his at-bats during his stateside career, the punchout was a bit of a shock.
“I had a bad feeling,” he told reporters with a laugh. “I’m a player who rarely strikes out. I think I should be proud of that. In my opinion, it was harder to hit than [Roger] Clemens.”
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