The Seattle Mariners honored Hall of Fame outfielder Ichiro Suzuki with a statue outside of T-Mobile Park Friday, April 10, but the unveiling didn’t go exactly as planned.
As the cover was pulled off revealing Suzuki’s statue, onlookers, including former Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, took notice of a bent and broken baseball bat on the bronze sculpture of the Mariners legend in his iconic stance at the plate.
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“There was a fastball inside,” joked Rick Rizzs, the lead radio voice of the Mariners who presided over Friday’s ceremony, “but he still got a base hit! … “What a remarkable piece of art.”
Those in attendance found humor in the awkward situation, and the statue was fixed within the hour.
Suzuki played 28 years of professional baseball, including 19 season in Major League Baseball. He began his MLB career in 2001 with the Mariners and played there until 2012. In that span, he absolutely dominated. He was a spectacle to see. He was named AL Rookie of the Year and MVP in 2001. He also won Silver Slugger Award, AL batting champion and was AL stolen base leader.
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His 2001 season was no fluke. Suzuki was an All-Star and Gold Glove Award winner in each of his first 10 seasons. He amassed a record 262 hits in 2004, a mark that still stands.
He finished his career with 3,089 hits in 9,934 at-bats for a .311 batting average; needless to say, his bat on the field rarely malfunctioned. Suzuki hit 117 career home runs, drove in 780 runs with a .757 OPS. He had 509 career stolen bases.
Suzuki’s No. 51 was retired by Mariners on August 9, 2025. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame a month earlier.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Seattle Mariners’ Ichiro Suzuki statue includes broken baseball bat
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