Fans of ex-baseball star Ichiro Suzuki were startled when a statue of him cracked during its unveiling outside the Seattle Mariners’ stadium on Friday. As the blue tarp was pulled away, a cracking sound rang out and the bronze figure beneath seemed to shrink in height. The statue, depicting Suzuki with a broken bat, was unveiled outside T-Mobile Park. Suzuki, 52, stood before his likeness, pointing skeptically at the bat before bursting into laughter. The moment came a year after he earned near-unanimous induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame following an 18-year MLB career in the United States. After moving from Japan, he spent 12 seasons with the Mariners, later playing for the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins, and then returning to the Mariners for his last two seasons. Mariners CEO John Stanton, who helped with the bat-breaking tug, praised Suzuki’s meticulous preparation and play and told the crowd he was certainly worthy of this everlasting recognition. The statue shows the right fielder in his signature pose, wearing his 2001 rookie-season uniform. Suzuki said sculptor Lou Cella had asked him to wear the uniform for a photoshoot to help in creating the statue, adding, “I was happy that I was still able to fit into that uniform.”
