Ichiro Suzuki's statue unveiling has a mishap as bat snaps during ceremony
SEATTLE (AP) — Oh, snap.
The unveiling of Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's statue had an unforced error on Friday — a broken bat.
As broadcaster Rick Rizzs declared “we're going to count down from 51!” — a nod to Suzuki's jersey number, which was retired by the Seattle Mariners — the curtain covering the bronze statue was pulled down, and so, too, went the bat.
A snapping noise could be heard as the bronze bat flopped down and confetti sprouted up.
“Here it is! The statue of one of the greatest players in the history of the game!” Rizzs declared as the curtain was pulled and a celebratory tune played outside of T-Mobile Park.
The statue depicts Suzuki in his batting stance. He appeared to find the mishap to be hilarious, and joked through an interpreter that New York Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera got the best of him again.
“I didn’t think Mariano would come out here,” Suzuki said with a smile, “and break the bat.”
It did not take long for the Mariners to fix the statue; Suzuki’s bat was soon turned upright and reconnected at the handle. The statue was sculpted by Chicago-based Lou Cella, who also produced statues of Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez, University of Washington football coach Don James, Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird, and former Seattle SuperSonics player and coach Lenny Wilkens.
Suzuki said he wore a jersey from the 2001 season, when he won both AL MVP and Rookie of the Year, for a photo shoot with Cella.
“I can say I was happy that I was still able to fit into that uniform, and probably could say Junior and Edgar probably couldn’t do that,” Suzuki said. “So, I was happy about that.”
Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer and last year became only the third Mariners player to have his jersey retired by the franchise, joining Griffey (No. 24) and Martinez (No. 11).
Griffey and Martinez joined Suzuki for the ceremony and helped him pull the curtain off the statue.
“To have this moment with them, I look back at how it all started,” Suzuki said. “And it’s just been an unbelievable experience.”
Suzuki made history as the first Japanese-born player inducted into the Hall of Fame, earning a near-unanimous 99.7% of the vote from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
The way the jovial Suzuki saw it, his statue having an imperfection was only fitting.
“In the Hall of Fame, I was short one vote,” Suzuki said. “Today, the bat was broke. It kind of lets me know that I’m still not there, that I still need to keep going. So, this is a good example of that.”
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