Brandon Mann grew up idolizing Ichiro Suzuki. He was born in Tacoma and he was watching Ichiro’s MVP season in 2001 when he was a junior at Mount Rainier High School.
Mann never imagined he’d be facing Ichiro in a game.
And he certainly never saw this coming.
One of his pitches tailed inside and careened off Ichiro’s batting helmet, sending the 44 –year-old future Hall of Famer to the dirt near home plate during a minor league scrimmage game. Ichiro was there to get extra at-bats while he recovers from a calf injury.