51-year-old Ichiro completes full game until 9th inning

Ichiro Suzuki (51), the legendary Japanese baseball player who is now the same age as his former jersey number 51, once again demonstrated his unchanging "Iron Man" excellence this year. This time, he was the starting pitcher for a small "local baseball" team, Kobe Chiben, where he serves as both owner and manager.

Ichiro, who was called the "hitting machine" during his time in Major League Baseball (MLB) with 3,089 hits, played as both the starting pitcher and leadoff hitter in a game against a women's high school baseball all-star team held at the Tokyo Dome in Japan on Monday, leading his team to a sweeping 17-3 victory.

Since 2021, Ichiro has annually participated in this friendly match against the women’s high school all-star team, consistently pitching a complete game from the 1st to the 9th inning. In 2021, he led his team to a 1-0 victory with a complete game shutout, and in 2022, he gave up just one run over nine innings. Last year, he again secured a 4-0 shutout with a complete game.

Unlike the past three years, he started by allowing three runs in the first inning this year. However, he quickly regained his form and allowed no more runs until the 9th inning. His final performance was nine innings, five hits allowed, 2 walks, nine strikeouts, and three runs (all unearned). He threw a total of 116 pitches, with his fastball reaching a top speed of 138 km/h. At bat, he collected four hits.

Matsui Hideki (50), who was a power hitter for the New York Yankees in MLB, also appeared in a Kobe Chiben uniform for the first time that day. As the cleanup hitter and center fielder, Matsui hit a 3-run home run over the right-field fence in the 8th inning. Although both players played in MLB during the same era, they never played on the same team. Japanese media reported that Ichiro welcomed Matsui, who was returning after hitting the home run, with a big smile.


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com