At 45, legendary outfielder Ichiro Suzuki has still got it.
The Japan native returned home with his Seattle Mariners teammates to take on the Yomiuri Giants, where he decided to kick things back a decade and show off his historic arm. With runners on first and second, Ichiro fielded a fly ball to right and to ensure the runner from second didn’t advance, he threw an absolutely perfect laser to third place that kept everyone on their bag. If you didn’t know any better then you’d think this was Ichiro in his young thirties.
WHOA. Baseball fans were loving it.
The toss wasn’t anything that Japanese fans haven’t already witnessed in person. Before heading to The Bigs, Ichiro spent eight years with the Orix Buffaloes from 1992-2000, of the Nippon Professional Baseball league where he won three MVPs and a Japanese championship in 1996. From there, he’d go on to play in 10 MLB All-Star games, capture AL MVP in his first season (2001) and win 10 Gold Glove Awards.
Yeah, the guy’s done a lot for the sport of baseball.
At this point, Ichiro is well past his prime but let’s take a few minutes to look at some of his best highlights from the past. This man arguably possessed the biggest cannon in the sport’s history and was unstoppable during his best years.
The Mariners went on to beat the Giants 6-5 at the Tokyo Dome and although he went 0-for-3 at the plate, he was able to still give fans a good showing.
What. A. Toss.
(H/T Seattle Mariners)
