(Photo: Koji Sasahara, Associated Press)
Tokyo — Ichiro Suzuki has said “sayonara."
The 45-year-old Seattle Mariners star left the Tokyo Dome field in the eighth inning Thursday night, waving goodbye to the packed crowd amid hugs from teammates in a three-minute walk that signaled to all his great career has ended.
The Japanese agency Kyodo News reported during the game against Oakland that Ichiro would announce his retirement after it was over. Ichiro made it official after the 5-4 win over the A's.
Ichiro went 0-for-4. He took his spot in right field in the eighth, but then was pulled by manager Scott Servais and the walk into history began in front of a sellout of 45,000.