Ichiro Suzuki retires after nearly two decades in Major League Baseball
Last Updated: 21/03/19 2:26pm
Ichiro Suzuki has called time on his Major League Baseball career after playing in the first two regular season games of 2019 at home in Japan.
Ichiro set the trend for Japanese players in "America's Game", joining the Seattle Mariners in 2001 and going on to pile up more than 3,000 hits, while batting at an average above .300.
He spent more than a decade with the franchise and returned in 2018 after spells with the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins.
And it was as a member of the Mariners that he played his final game, going 0-for-4 in his 2,653rd outing before leaving to a standing ovation in the eighth inning at the Tokyo Dome when their game against the Oakland Athletics was tied at 4-4.
He had become the second oldest player to start a season-opening game on Wednesday when the Mariners beat the A's 9-7 to kick off the 2019 campaign.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mariners manager Scott Servais sent Ichiro out to his position in right field before telling the rest of his team to come back to the dugout, leaving Ichiro to receive a tearful ovation from more than 46,000 supporters.
His career, which will almost certainly end in the Hall of Fame, has seen Ichiro become only the fourth player to tally 3,000 hits and win 10 Gold Gloves - he is a 10-time All-Star and won Most Valuable Player honours in his rookie season.
He said: "I have achieved so many of my dreams in baseball, both in my career in Japan and, since 2001, in Major League Baseball.
"I am honoured to end my big league career where it started, with Seattle, and think it is fitting that my last games as a professional were played in my home country of Japan.
"I want to thank not only the Mariners, but the Yankees and Marlins, for the opportunity to play in MLB, and I want to thank the fans in both the U.S. and Japan for all the support they have always given me."
