rotrab
05-18-2005, 09:08 AM
The following article contains some of Ichiro's approach to hitting:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3610314?GT1=6444
It doesn't point out some of the stranger parts of Ichiro's approach. For example, all his bats are made by the Mizuno factory in Japan. They are made of either tamo wood or ash. They are all the same length and weight and arrive individually shrink-wrapped to prevent humidity from affecting them.
Ichiro prefers tamo wood bats, which he used in Japan, but says the humidity in America is such that ash handles it better. So he practices with tamo wood but switches over to ash for the game.
One room at the Safeco clubhouse in Seattle is locked and contains a humidor. Usually, only Ichiro goes in there and the humidor is for his bats. The room is kept strictly temperature-controlled at Ichiro's insistence and specifications. The humidor is also locked and, again, only Ichiro ever opens it. On the road, a smaller humidor is taken for his bats.
During the game, Ichiro leans his bat on a certain part of the dugout bench and no one must touch it and no one dares to. Ichiro does not throw away broken bats but gives the pieces away.
Ichiro never throws a bat or slams or breaks it over his knee or any of that stuff. In fact, he takes a very dim view of players who do this. To Ichiro, the equipment is alive and has feelings that must be appeased and respected. Once, in Japn during a slump, Ichiro struck out and threw his bat in anger. Afterwards, he felt bad, picked up the bat reverently and apologized for his behavior. He then took the bat back to the hotel and slept with it in his bed. The next morning, he took the bat back to the ball park and used it in the game and went 4-for-4. Slump over.
Ichiro collects his own bats after each and every game and spends a great deal of time, cleaning them properly before stowing them away in the humidor. He ALWAYS does this himself. No one else must touch them.
Ichiro's glove is hand-stitched by a man in his 70s who works for the Mizuno factory in Japan. Between at-bats, Ichiro oils his glove. He never sits on it, throws it, kicks it or anything like that. Once again, all equipment is alive and have feelings.
Once, when the Seattle franchise were ready to release their Ichiro bobbleheads, one was shown to him to be approved before mass producing them. Ichiro noticed that his elbow pads were not depicted on the bobblehead. Ichiro insisted that the elbow pads HAD to be included. They are part of his success and he could not, in good conscience, diss them by leaving them off even on a bobblehead. The franchise redid the dolls to Ichiro's specs.
As with his other equipment, batting helmets and such are treated respectfully. Ichiro feels that people work hard to make good equipment and would appreciate seeing that equipment being used--not abused.
You can laugh this off if you like, but I can guarantee other MLB players are not laughing. The man has the numbers to back up his claims and who knows what other records he is going to own before he retires as a player (although I fully expect he will become a top-notch hitting coach and manager).
Coaches have already stated that Ichiro is the most observant player they've ever seen. He sees EVERYTHING that goes on on the field in the opposing teams' dugout. He sees it, he lets the manager know, and strategies are adjusted accordingly. He seems to be able to track several different things at once with precision.
There are a lot of purists today who refuse to give Ichiro credit and I'm sure some of it is racism but most Americans realize that Ichiro is not only a great player, he is a living baseball legend in the making. He will go down with Ruth, Gehrig, Mays, DiMaggio, Mantle, Kaline, Cobb, Robinson, Aaron, etc. Another season or two and he will be a Hall-of-Fame shoo-in. Unlike the other great players of today, virtually all of them involved in a steroid controversy, Ichiro was born with game and doesn't need that stuff to get by.
As many players, managers, announcers and coaches have said and will continue to say, "Ichiro palys the game on a higher plane than anyone else."
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/3610314?GT1=6444
It doesn't point out some of the stranger parts of Ichiro's approach. For example, all his bats are made by the Mizuno factory in Japan. They are made of either tamo wood or ash. They are all the same length and weight and arrive individually shrink-wrapped to prevent humidity from affecting them.
Ichiro prefers tamo wood bats, which he used in Japan, but says the humidity in America is such that ash handles it better. So he practices with tamo wood but switches over to ash for the game.
One room at the Safeco clubhouse in Seattle is locked and contains a humidor. Usually, only Ichiro goes in there and the humidor is for his bats. The room is kept strictly temperature-controlled at Ichiro's insistence and specifications. The humidor is also locked and, again, only Ichiro ever opens it. On the road, a smaller humidor is taken for his bats.
During the game, Ichiro leans his bat on a certain part of the dugout bench and no one must touch it and no one dares to. Ichiro does not throw away broken bats but gives the pieces away.
Ichiro never throws a bat or slams or breaks it over his knee or any of that stuff. In fact, he takes a very dim view of players who do this. To Ichiro, the equipment is alive and has feelings that must be appeased and respected. Once, in Japn during a slump, Ichiro struck out and threw his bat in anger. Afterwards, he felt bad, picked up the bat reverently and apologized for his behavior. He then took the bat back to the hotel and slept with it in his bed. The next morning, he took the bat back to the ball park and used it in the game and went 4-for-4. Slump over.
Ichiro collects his own bats after each and every game and spends a great deal of time, cleaning them properly before stowing them away in the humidor. He ALWAYS does this himself. No one else must touch them.
Ichiro's glove is hand-stitched by a man in his 70s who works for the Mizuno factory in Japan. Between at-bats, Ichiro oils his glove. He never sits on it, throws it, kicks it or anything like that. Once again, all equipment is alive and have feelings.
Once, when the Seattle franchise were ready to release their Ichiro bobbleheads, one was shown to him to be approved before mass producing them. Ichiro noticed that his elbow pads were not depicted on the bobblehead. Ichiro insisted that the elbow pads HAD to be included. They are part of his success and he could not, in good conscience, diss them by leaving them off even on a bobblehead. The franchise redid the dolls to Ichiro's specs.
As with his other equipment, batting helmets and such are treated respectfully. Ichiro feels that people work hard to make good equipment and would appreciate seeing that equipment being used--not abused.
You can laugh this off if you like, but I can guarantee other MLB players are not laughing. The man has the numbers to back up his claims and who knows what other records he is going to own before he retires as a player (although I fully expect he will become a top-notch hitting coach and manager).
Coaches have already stated that Ichiro is the most observant player they've ever seen. He sees EVERYTHING that goes on on the field in the opposing teams' dugout. He sees it, he lets the manager know, and strategies are adjusted accordingly. He seems to be able to track several different things at once with precision.
There are a lot of purists today who refuse to give Ichiro credit and I'm sure some of it is racism but most Americans realize that Ichiro is not only a great player, he is a living baseball legend in the making. He will go down with Ruth, Gehrig, Mays, DiMaggio, Mantle, Kaline, Cobb, Robinson, Aaron, etc. Another season or two and he will be a Hall-of-Fame shoo-in. Unlike the other great players of today, virtually all of them involved in a steroid controversy, Ichiro was born with game and doesn't need that stuff to get by.
As many players, managers, announcers and coaches have said and will continue to say, "Ichiro palys the game on a higher plane than anyone else."