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Ichiro comes to America
Ichiro signed as a free agent with the Seattle Mariners on November 18, 2000, in a three-year contract. When Ichiro came to America (in the beginning!) he was, for the first time in about eight years, an anonymous figure. He could walk the streets of Seattle and be virtually unrecognized. And he had taken a liking to being just another face in the crowd. "I really enjoy being able to go anywhere without people noticing me," Ichiro said through an interpreter for an early interview. "In Japan, I couldn't even go to McDonald's by myself. Here, I can just go into McDonald's and nobody notices me. I really enjoy that."

At the time of this interview, Ichiro, 27, had been working out in Seattle for most of the past three weeks and was quickly adjusting to life outside of Japan and in America. His adjustment, however, has been made easier because of Seattle's significant Japanese population and culture. Still, it's not easy adapting to a completely different country, culture and environment. "Right now, I am having a difficult time and an easy time," said Ichiro. "There are a lot of things I can get in Seattle, like Japanese food. I am adjusting." Currently, Ichiro's wife, Yumiko, is house hunting, and is "happier than I am" to be in Seattle, he said.

Although Ichiro was anonymous to American fans, each day, a contingent of Japanese media, representing many of the country's sports newspapers, met with Ichiro after his daily workouts. The interest from his Japanese fans is great, thus the media coverage. However, the daily attention became somewhat of a burden to the personable Ichiro because he is basically just working out on his own. Often, there is not much to discuss with the Japanese media. "I am used to a similar experience in Japan with the media around me all the time," Ichiro said. "But this is pre-spring training and I am simply working out on my own. Sometimes, I get stressed out that I must talk every day."

Famous last words?
In the final paragraph of that pre-spring training interview: '"Of course I will have some pressure here, but compared to the pressures I have had in the past, this pressure is nothing," said Ichiro, who will wear No. 51, the same number worn by former Mariners great Randy Johnson. "When I play in Japan, people expect me to be the leading hitter every year. Compared to the pressure that I am going to have or I may have, it's just nothing." The Mariners aren't expecting Ichiro to live up to his career .353 batting average.'


Ichiro appearing in his first All-Star Game

Ichiro's Rookie Season in America
He made a fabulous start in his Major League career in 2001. He got at least one hit in 40 of his first 43 games with the Mariners. He had a 15-game hitting streak from Apr. 4-20 and then hit in 23 straight games from Apr. 22 to May 18. The 23-game streak equaled his best-ever stretch in Japan, where he won seven consecutive batting titles from 1994-2000.

From an ESPN interview:
WHICH PITCHER ARE YOU MOST ANXIOUS TO FACE? ''I'm anxious to face them all, but in reality I'm looking forward most to (Boston's) Pedro Martinez. He was with the major league team that came to Japan in 1996, just before he became a superstar. I'm anxious to see how much he's improved. And I'm anxious to see how much I've improved against him.''

WHICH BIG-LEAGUE PARK ARE YOU MOST INTERESTED IN SEEING? ''The parks with the most history have the most interest for me. I'd like to see Yankee Stadium, of course, and in Boston, Fenway Park.''

GOLF OR BASEBALL? ''I love baseball, but being here, I've been able to play golf every day. I can't play in Japan because every course has caddies, and the caddies all want autographs and don't want to let me golf.''

Longer season in America
Through 135 games with the Mariners, the same length as the seasons he played in Japan with the Orix BlueWave, Ichiro showed he could play at All-Star level on both sides of the Pacific. At that time, he was leading the American League in hitting and could have become [and did] the first player ever to win consecutive batting titles in Japan and in the majors.

What remained as uncharted territory for the 27-year-old rookie was the 162-game major league schedule and the pressure of the major's playoff season. This season and post-season with the Mariners, who clinched a playoff spot Monday, will be about 30 to 40 games longer than the seasons in Japan for Ichiro, who sat out parts of 1999 and 2000 with injuries.

After a dismal July, scouts started questioning whether the slightly built Ichiro could withstand a full major league season.

Ichiro responded by hitting .429 in August and posting his second hit streak of over 20 games this season.

''The longer season is new for me and I will find out what I can do from now,'' Ichiro said.

The Japanese player said the cross country trips have been draining. During his playing days in Japan, the longest trips were about two hours, and almost all the games were in the area of only three cities -- Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

''The traveling is tough and coming off a day game on one coast with night games on the other coast is a difficult thing to do, and to keep in the best condition,'' Ichiro said.

But he has managed the strain of travel, posting the highest batting average on the road in the American League of .354.

Baltimore Orioles outfielder Brady Anderson saw Ichiro play in Japan in 1996 when he was a member of an All-Star team taking part in an exhibition series with Japan's top players. Anderson said he noticed that since coming to the majors, Ichiro has closed his batting stance and cut down on his leg kick, but he has not seen any change in his top-shelf ability.''

Japanese players in America
Ichiro is the subject of tremendous media scrutiny in his homeland. He and outfielder Tsuyoshi Shinjo of the New York Mets are the first position players from Japan to play in the Major Leagues. Ichiro is so popular in Japan that the Japanese paprazzi have followed him mercilessly here in the United States. At one point it was so bad that he and Mariner pitcher Kazuhuro Sasaki boycotted the Japanese press.

This biography will be added to on a regular basis

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