It was a moment a long time coming. From growing up in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan—anything but a baseball hotbed at the time—to eight seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball League to a 30-day posting process that culminated in him standing here, in the Seattle Mariners clubhouse, no more than three steps from a locker adorned with Ichiro’s nameplate.
“Hi everyone. My name—is Yusei Kikuchi…Hi everyone, my name is Yusei Kikuchi.”
With a couple final rehearsals, a deep breath and a straightening of his suit jacket, the six-foot lefty strode out of the clubhouse, down the T-Mobile Park service tunnel and into a packed interview room, where he did something that’s rarely, if ever, been done by a Japanese player upon their arrival to Major League Baseball.