In a matter of hours, Ichiro Suzuki will step away from professional baseball. This comes as no surprise, following a year in which the 45-year-old played in just 15 games before stepping away to take an advisory role within the Mariners’ organization.
With the Mariners opening their 2019 campaign in Ichiro’s home country of Japan, however, this proposed a great opportunity for a storybook send-off. Though obvious, neither Ichiro nor Mariners upper management would acknowledge the finality of this series; but Jim Allen of Kyodo News has reported that Ichiro alerted the Mariners that he plans on retiring following today’s game against the Oakland Athletics.