Ichiro Suzuki Quotations

Personally, I don't like the term 'success.' It's too arbitrary and too relative a thing. It's usually someone else's definition, not yours.

If I'm in a slump, I ask myself for advice.

People striving for approval from others become phony.

The Japanese have a strong tendency to suppress their own feelings. That's the Japanese character. They kill their own emotions.

I heard that in the United States the level of baseball was the highest in the world. So it was only natural that I would want to go there, as a baseball player.

I feel like I should be more in touch with the nuances of this game.

When people get placed upon a pedestal - when they start chasing after that person on the pedestal - they become mannequin-like.

I've made far too many mistakes. That's the way I feel.

Many people have this image of me. For a long time, I cared about that.

The more that Japanese players go to the big leagues to play and succeed, the more that will serve to inspire young kids in Japan to want to become baseball players when they grow up.

With the World Baseball Classic, this year is a bit different. Our goal will be to win the tournament and after that I'll start thinking about the regular season.

Ninety losses is not going to affect how I feel. What's important is what direction the team is going, ... If we know what direction we're going, that's the thing that will make this team good.

I don't know any of their names. The fact that they've come this far shows that they're a team with serious potential. I'm looking forward to (seeing) where these players will go in the future.

I don't know what to expect. I don't know many of their names. But the fact that they've come this far says a lot about them.

I don't know what to compare that to. It's for sure each team has something in mind about the other. It's an honor and a pleasure to play a game against them.

I am really proud that I am one of the two major league players to play in the final game. I do think that I have the Japanese flag on my shoulder.

I feel really proud that I'm the only one of two Major League Baseball players to play in the final game. Of course, I sense that MLB is hurting a little bit.

I feel really proud I'm one of only two to be playing in the final. I sense Major League Baseball is hurting a little bit.

If I was satisfied with the situation right now, I would quit baseball.

If I was satisfied with my performance, I should quit baseball.

For me, rather than keeping something inside, it's better to get things out in the open. Now that things are out in the open, I feel really good right now, ready for the next season.

If we were in the Kingdome or something, maybe that would be special.

This was not perfect so far. But I believe a lot of people in the whole world paid attention to baseball.

I actually welcome boos as part of the game. I really love to see that from my opponent's fans. Last night, I think that those fans didn't boo hard enough.

I think we have to rethink, because now we are on the big stage, and the Americans are a big-stage team. In the Asian round, we felt we had to worry about not only winning, but playing good for the (home) fans. Here, we have one purpose only.

I was able to hit a home run in my first at-bat and I was glad to do it. I didn't have that in mind but I knew we should score first and maintain the lead.

Physically, I'm fine. All I have to do is start playing games and get my timing back, those kinds of things. Physically, it's no problem at all. Mentally, we all have to pull ourselves together as a team. We're now playing with 'Japan' on our chests and we need to concentrate more.

Physically I'm fine. All I have to do is get my timing back, those kinds of things. Physically it's no problem at all.

I won't maintain that emotional level. I guess I'm lucky we have another week left in spring training, and that will give me an opportunity to recover.

I won't know until I wake up (today).

I thought it was a close play. I'll leave it up to the umpire to call.

That was embarrassing. If I'm satisfied with the way I played today, I might as well quit.

I wasn't surprised ... there's many situations where the runner on first runs in those situations.

I would like to see the success of this event lead to baseball being back at the Olympics, but I can't see myself participating in any effort to bring baseball back to the Olympics.

My comments seemed to stir up a lot of things but they are going be interpreted in many ways anyway and I'm fine with that. I felt the weight of shouldering the Japanese flag and this primarily brought out my emotions in this tournament.

We couldn't disregard what our manager was saying. We weren't persuaded by the outcome. That's why we didn't.

We couldn't disregard what our manager was saying.

We didn't prepare as well as we might have, ... There are a lot of fans who paid to see us play today. As professionals, we should prepare ourselves as best as we can to go out there and play in the best shape we're capable of playing.

The day when Japan's baseball players could do battle against the major leaguers we have long looked up to finally came. So losing it was extremely regrettable.

There are a lot of people who get it wrong, ... The size of your body is not necessarily related to the power you can generate. I wish people would understand that.

There are many issues. But a lot of players pay attention to this event. I'm sure you can improve aspects in the three years before the next event takes place.

There have been times this year when I would get negative and I would get mad.

We're the best team. Today is the biggest day in my baseball life.

This was the most humiliating day of my baseball career.

To be honest, I never imagined we'd get there. We had a great team, the best. I hope we showed everyone what a great sport baseball is.

Because I love baseball. That is the No. 1 motivation. What I do is just come here to perform.

I sense that MLB is hurting a little bit.

I've never been officially named captain by the manager. But if you look at my experience in baseball, I'm definitely the veteran on the team.

I've seen a lot of great plays in my five years in the majors. And I know we have enough talent on our team to be able to contend.

This is probably the biggest moment of my baseball career. This event has decided the true world champions and we have won. I'm unbelievably happy. It's amazing.

This is probably the biggest moment of my baseball career.

The more you put your opinion out there, you are open to more vulnerability. Of course, I want to change the team. But working by myself is difficult ... it has to be a team effort.

It was either going to be an extremely boring day or then again maybe not. I went all out for the homer, really 120 percent.

It's a good chance for everyone interested in soba to exchange opinions. Walking around and tasting is the main part.

It's such a shame. It's such a pity.

It's not an ideal thing for a player to think, but I really didn't care if I would get injured in this game. That's how much I really wanted to win this one. That's how we were driven to this championship.

Everyone got a chance to make contact with the ball and we are feeling the groove now. I'm the only one not quite feeling it yet.

I want to be the kind of player, ... where the fans can look to me and think it's just another day, another performance.

They are very confident. They are united as a team. They have a better chance to bring out the best in themselves.

The fans cheering me on, when I play well they clap their hands for me. They're really great.

I'm really proud that I'm only one of two players from Major League Baseball in the final game. I sense MLB is hurting a little bit.

I like the glove to be a little loose,

In a tournament like this one, it's important to be the team that scores first.

I'll walk on my hands before I use crutches.

In the second half of the 2003 season -- actually, I'd include the 2002 season in this -- I started to struggle as I approached the 200-hit mark. As I got closer to the goal, I lost control of that part of batting and sort of lost focus.

In terms of Cuba, I have no idea what to expect. I don't know any of their names. The fact they've come this far shows they are a team with serious potential.

I didn't even think about the upcoming season. I didn't care if I would get injured in this game. That's how much I wanted to win this game. That's how driven we were for this championship.

I felt the spirit and smartness of the Japanese players while playing with this team. It was a great team and I wish I could play major league games with this team for one season.

Everybody in the states is so relaxed, and everybody in Japan is so uptight.

When I look at the records and see where my place in the history of the game (in Japan with Orix) might be, I guess you could say it was a good decision to come here. It's not just me. Maybe I'll have an effect on others in the international part of the game.

When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it (in Japan). He's that big.

Baseball has been the greatest things in my life, but the cameras and the media surrounding baseball have not been fun. It's unnecessary. How many times do they see me stretch? How many times do they see me walk? It is a big concern. If it affected the team in a negative way, I don't know what I would do.

I wanted the challenge of competing against the best players in the world.

I had a dream. And I made that dream come true.

You should seek approval from yourself.

I'm anxious to face them (major league pitchers) all, but in reality I'm looking forward most to (Boston's) Pedro Martinez. He was with the major league team that came to Japan in 1996, just before he became a superstar. I'm anxious to see how much he's improved. And I'm anxious to see how much I've improved against him.

I didn't know I hit that way (.625 with runners in scoring position). Maybe not knowing is my secret. If I chased numbers, maybe I wouldn't have as good results.

As professionals we have a responsibility of providing a good show for the fans. Getting hits and home runs is what they want to see.

I love baseball, but being here (in the United States), I've been able to play golf every day. I can't play in Japan because every course has caddies, and the caddies all want autographs and don't want to let me golf.

I played on the 2001 team, the team that won the most games in the history of Major League Baseball and also I played on one of the worst teams of Major League Baseball.

I think if you look at the friends, the kinds of relationships I have, I am not the kind of guy who has many shallow relationships. I think you could say I am the kind of guy who has a few relationships, but those are very deep.

Some people enjoy taking a light stroll in the morning and that gives them relief and that sort of feeling. That is what I gain by practicing, by swinging the bat.

In baseball, even the best hitters fail seven of ten times, and of those seven failures there are different reasons why. Some are personal failures, others are losses to the pitcher. You just get beat. In those personal failures, I felt I could have done better.

I want to be the first player to show what Japanese batters can do in the major league.

I'm told I either look bigger than I do on television or that I look smaller than I look on television. No one seems to think I look the same size.

August in Kansas City is hotter than two rats f**king in a sock.

I've always prided myself in not reveling in past accomplishments and focusing on future achievement, instead. That's been my career motto.

If I ever saw myself saying I'm excited going to Cleveland, I'd punch myself in the face, because I'm lying.

I'm not a big guy and hopefully kids could look at me and see that I'm not muscular and not physically imposing, that I'm just a regular guy. So if somebody with a regular body can get into the record books, kids can look at that. That would make me happy.

Chicks who dig home runs aren't the ones who appeal to me. I think there's sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I'd rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.

You want to know the color of my underwear, too? ... You guys are starting to ask questions like the Japanese writers used to.

The longer I played, the more important it became to me. I think those who followed me could see this best. The fans want me to get hits, and since I've been able to in the past, 200 hits became a kind of benchmark indicating I've done well. One hundred eighty wouldn't cut it. For the fans it's got to be 200.