NEW YORK CITY: Japan’s Ichiro Suzuki wasted no time belting the 4,000th hit of his pro career, achieving the milestone in the first inning of New York’s 4-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
His baseball-crazy home country, from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to school kids, erupted in joy over the feat with his father Nobuyuki urging him to go for more.
Yankees outfielder Suzuki performed the feat yesterday by slicing one of Toronto pitcher RA Dickey’s knuckleballs past diving third baseman Brett Lawrie and into left field in his first at-bat of the Major League Baseball contest.
The 39-year-old Suzuki, who has played professionally in both Japan and North America, finished the game one-for-four.
AFP
