Ichiro quotes of awesomeness
msb emailed us these PI quotes
When Kenji Johjima stole third base without drawing a throw Tuesday night, the Red Sox weren’t the only ones he caught off guard.
McLaren and the coaching staff were equally surprised.
“I thought I saw the green light,” Johjima said of his first steal of third in two-plus seasons.
Hearing that, center fielder Ichiro Suzuki, sitting next to Johjima in the clubhouse Wednesday afternoon, chuckled.
“Yellow light,” Ichiro said, drawing a smile from Johjima.
And his recollection of Bret Boone
“I don’t know if it’s a good memory or a bad one,” Ichiro Suzuki said. “But when I first came over to play in the United States, I had had a few teammates from the U.S. who had played on my team in Japan. So I had somewhat of an idea of what American players would be like.
“But when I met him, he was kind of a human being that you would never meet in Japan. So, whenever I was around him, I almost felt like I was witnessing a creature, not a human being. It was fun for me to watch him.”
“Yellow Light.”
Awesome…
I read the whole Boone piece…God I loved it when he was here…one of my favorites of all time…and ICHIRO! saying he was a creature is money…
May 29th, 2008 at 12:04 pmIchiro is an enigma wrapped in a mystery surrounded by a hilarious crunchy coating.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:22 pmFrom further down in the same column as the Boone piece:
Classic.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:23 pmI love the Tigers
May 29th, 2008 at 12:25 pmBoone’s probably the guy who taught Ichiro that line about Kansas City in August, too.
Good for Kenji, by the way. Edgar always used to try to steal one base a year just so teams wouldn’t take him for granted.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:26 pmThat is very funny. We really need Ichi-balls in the AS game. VOTE ICHIRO ‘08
May 29th, 2008 at 12:27 pmI wonder how confused Ichiro was at first to be in close proximity to a teammate who constantly referred to himself in the third person.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:33 pmAhh, Boone. Never really had a chance to go out on his own terms. Hope he’s adjusting to life, now.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:37 pmHooray for quotes of awesomeness!!!!
May 29th, 2008 at 12:43 pm#3: Wow, Carlos Guillen can now be mentioned in the same light as George Brett.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:44 pmsounds like it — last night Valle was asked about Boone, and he said “he was just as cocky when he came up as a rookie, and it was hilarious”
May 29th, 2008 at 12:51 pmThe man is on fire of late.
Someone buy that centerfielder a South Pacific Lager.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:57 pmI think one of the greatest Ichiro quotes of all time was in his interview with Bob Costas.
Costas asks Ichiro, “What’s your favorite American expression?”
Ichiro smiles and chuckles all-knowingly and then responds,
“August in Kansas City it is hotter than two rats fucking in a wool sock.”
“That’s my favorite.”
“I have a bad teammate.”
The teammate who taught him this was, indeed, The Boone.
May 29th, 2008 at 12:59 pm@Doc Baseball, I think that may be the funniest thing I’ve ever read in my long years.
May 29th, 2008 at 1:01 pmhe was kind of a human being that you would never meet in Japan. So, whenever I was around him, I almost felt like I was witnessing a creature, not a human being.
That’s a veiled steroid reference, right?
May 29th, 2008 at 1:03 pmHope he’s adjusting to life, now.
Of course he is. From the commercials we already know from he spends his time at home doing the bat flip with his rake, his toothbrush, his phone…
May 29th, 2008 at 1:50 pmNo, it’s a veiled “Boone is a crazy, egotistical, sunovabitch that is fun to watch” reference.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:20 pmThis is all just practice for Ichiro as he prepares for his next career — stand-up comedian.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:36 pmOh my God, I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as hard at my desk as I just did watching that Ichiro/Costas clip.
May 29th, 2008 at 2:42 pmL-freaking-O-L. That’s like saying Bon Jovi’s time off lead to his new album sucking.
May 29th, 2008 at 3:10 pmThat obviously only applies to Proven Vets. They think nothing of doing that to their hot hitting minor leaguers….
(Assuming that there was something there to begin with….)
May 29th, 2008 at 3:26 pmI can only hope that someday Ichiro will have a published book of quotes to sit along side my Yoggi Berra book. He really does come up with some gems, and I get the feeling that they would sound equally amazing in Japanese.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:00 pm+Personally, I believe ICHIRO!’s next career will involve welcoming aliens to Earth. There is more to this #51 than the human public is allowed to know about.
Or….
Maybe he will be fighting them off.
May 29th, 2008 at 4:01 pmHey sealclubber253 - you may be in luck!
Check out “Baseball Is Just Baseball”: The Understated Ichiro: An Unauthorized Collection Compiled by David Shields
From the Amazon page:
May 29th, 2008 at 4:30 pmIchiro Suzuki, the rookie All-Star right fielder for the Seattle Mariners has the sports world transfixed. Author David Shields …. was entranced by what Ichiro said–his smart, subtle words. The result is Baseball Is Just Baseball: The Understated Ichiro, a 120-page quote book of Ichiro in his own words.
You know what would be really interesting?
To listen in on a conversation between Ichiro and Manny trapped in an elevator together.
Manny Being Manny meets Ichi-isms.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:00 pmIchiro is Japanese Jesus.
May 29th, 2008 at 5:51 pmThere are several websites with Ichiro! quotes.
One of my favorite of his quotes is, “In response to what he listens for when he taps a new bat and puts it to his ear: “The sounds.”"
I can just see him saying it with a dead straight face, thinking, “What, do you think I talk to pixies in the wood?” (Actually, that’s what I really believe.)
May 29th, 2008 at 6:11 pmI don’t think an elevator with both Manny and Ichiro in it would dare get stuck. It would slide down the building in a surprisingly fast and casually effortless manner (high-fiving the occasional floor as it goes).
Now a conversation between Ichiro and Yogi, that would be something (”quip quip quip, malaprop malaprop malaprop, it’s the Ichi and Yogi show!” I can’t remember: is Ichi the mouse or the cat?)
May 29th, 2008 at 7:15 pmHe’s like MLB’s Charles Barkley sometmes.
May 29th, 2008 at 7:37 pmWeren’t we talking about Boone. Worst Mariner of all-time. He led the league in warning track bat flips.
He was 2nd to Clemens in the league for married men dragging 19 year olds into his VIP room.
I flippin hate that bat flip.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:21 pmPlus he’s college buddies with Cirillo. I forgot about Cirillo, now I’m drinking even faster.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:27 pmCirillo took me to a game when he was still in the minors (September) at the Kingdome when I was ten. He asked me if I wanted to meet Brett Boone and get his autograph. I said no.
That pretty much sums up his career considering how big a baseball fan I was/am.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:33 pmThat Costas - Ichiro clip is classic.
Now, I wonder if I play that on my phone sitting at Safeco, will some offended fan call an usher and throw me out? Won’t they have to throw out Ichiro, too?
After all, their family friendly policy has to be consistent.
May 29th, 2008 at 8:38 pmI don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not even a M’s fan and you got me to buy a book of Ichiro quotes. Probably had something to do with the generally good vibe and sense of humor of the site. Oh, and also that the book is available for 22 cents from amazon resellers — so go buy yours today!
May 29th, 2008 at 8:43 pmAfter watching the Ichiro-Costas clip, I ended up youtubing around and saw the old Junior “Human Cloning” commercial. I’m now officially on-board with the “Bring back Griffey” bandwagon. It won’t help the team a damned bit, but at this point I’ve given up hope of that. And if we can’t have good baseball, we can at least have good commericals again.
I’m thinking Griffey and Ichiro talking about how to crash into walls while still looking good. And they really ought to work “yellow light” into next year’s spots somehow.
Hmmm,
Kenji steals a base after a mixup of signals. Manager-to-be-named-in-the-offseason is exasperated in the dugout between inningins.
MANAGER: Kenji, you’ve been here long enough to know the signs. That was a yellow light.
KENJI: I’ve been studying your culture very carfully. I know all the signts. “Red light” means stop. “Green light” means go. “Yellow light” means go very fast.
May 29th, 2008 at 11:33 pmKenji is not Starman!
May 30th, 2008 at 12:05 amKenji is not Starman!
Prove it.
May 30th, 2008 at 12:40 amany one seen Karen Allen hanging around the ballpark?
May 30th, 2008 at 9:08 am