Ichiro Suzuki was always known as a prominent hitter, possibly one of the best hitters to ever come out of Japan. However, the Seattle Mariners haven't given him the opportunity to influence an important game lately. Boy oh boy did he get his chance at the World Baseball Classic to make history. The Championship was a hard fought battle, with Japan and Korea battling back and forth through many, especially the later, innings. Korea looked as if they were to claim victory when they tied the game at 3-3 with 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th inning when Lee Bum-ho dinged a single off of Japan's closer Yu Darvish. They couldn't score another run. The game now pushed onto the 10th inning. Seiichi Uchikawa opens up for Japan with a single, sacrificed to second, then made it to third after a single by Akinori Iwamura. Now we enter the Suzuki! One reason I'm writing this is because I don't understand the decision to pitch to Suzuki, and I believe if given the chance again, Korea would have walked him. In this game, it wasn't hard to see that you were getting manhandled, as Japan hit a whopping 15 hits to Korea's 5. Suzuki, after battling a few pitches, hits a blooper between and above the short-stop and second baseman, winning the game 5-3 for Japan. This is now the second time in a row Japan has won the WBC.
If there's one lesson to learn here...
Don't pitch to a teams proven all-star hitter when the game is on the line!
Picture taken from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01372/ichiro_suzuki_1372265c.jpg
I agree with this completely. Ichiro set the MLB record for most hits in a single-season. WHY would you pitch to him especially when hes about 8-9 pitches deep into an at-bat, ITS ICHIRO! O well Japan has proven to me that they are no joke when it comes to talented baseball players. Not to mention that Ichiro has gone to every All-Star game since he has been in the MLB with 8 consecutive Gold Gloves. If that isn't enough he was the Rookie of the Year in 2001 with the highest batting average and most steals- only comparable to Jackie Robinson. This man defines a FREAK OF NATURE
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