SENATE RESOLUTION
8629
By Senators Schoesler, Boehnke, Chapman, Cleveland, Dozier, Gildon, Goehner, Liias, Lovelett, MacEwen, Nobles, Orwall, Robinson, Shewmake, Short, Trudeau, Valdez, Warnick, Wellman, Hasegawa, Braun, Fortunato, Torres, and Wagoner
WHEREAS, Ichiro Suzuki's passion for baseball was rivaled by few players before his time or since his retirement; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro was born October 22nd, 1973, and grew up in a small Japanese town called Toyoyama; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro joined his first baseball team at the age of 7, following a daily routine with his father that included throwing 50 pitches, fielding 50 infield balls and 50 outfield balls, and hitting 500 pitches; and
WHEREAS, By age 12, Ichiro dedicated himself to pursuing a career in professional baseball, dedicating his life to the sport; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro had established himself as the best baseball player in Japan by the year 2000, which led him to sign with the Seattle Mariners before the 2001 season; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro began his rookie season with a bang, hitting safely in 39 of his first 41 games, showing great speed on the base paths and in the outfield, and displaying a very powerful throwing arm; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro quickly became a fan favorite in Seattle and the Northwest, with fans at Mariner home games chanting his name before his at-bats; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro helped lead the Mariners to the best record in Major League Baseball in 2001 with 116 wins and 46 losses, with the 116 wins tying the 1906 Chicago Cubs for most wins by a Major League team in a season; and
WHEREAS, Ichiro finished the 2001 season with 242 hits, 56 steals, an American League-leading .350 batting average, the first of his 10 Gold Glove Awards and three Silver Slugger Awards, and was a winner of the American League Most Valuable Player and was the runaway winner of the American League Rookie of the Year Award; and