By Dave Hyde
Sun Sentinel
Alex Rodriguez, sit down.
You, too, Michael Phelps.
For one more day it’s not your headline. There is no better, no warmer and no more heartwarming story in the sports world than Ichiro Suzuki celebrating his 3,000th hit by passing over, piece by piece, his game-used memorabilia to Cooperstown.
First, he gave the Marlins jersey worn during Sunday’s milestone hit to Jeff Idelson, president of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. Then he passed over his cleats. And wristbands. And elbow guard.
This was Monday in Marlins Park before a series began against San Francisco, and the scene unfolded like a wonderful silent movie, as Ichiro doesn’t speak English publicly and Idelson doesn’t speak Japanese.
We always want our athletes to appreciate history. Perhaps no one has studied it more than Ichiro. He has visited Cooperstown on his own six times, inspecting its hallways, swinging bats used by Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb and wearing gloves from different eras.
He even fell in love with a piece of art hanging in the Hall called, “The Dream.” It shows a group of kids playing a pick-up game in an open field while the outline of the Hall of Fame shimmers above on the clouds.
Ichiro offered to buy the painting. When told it wasn’t for sale, he did the next best thing. He commissioned the artist, Dick Perez, to paint a similar one for him for his home. (He also, according to former teammate Michael Morse, has a portrait of the rapper Snoop Dogg in his home, which suggests the gamut of his interests.)
“When I die, all my stuff will go to the Hall of Fame,” Ichiro said Monday.
Some will say Ichiro isn’t competing against today anymore. As 30th player — and first from Japan — to reach 3,000 hits, the temptation is to say he’s competing against history from here on out.
But the best part of his feat is something he said more than a month ago, when the number still shimmered ahead of him. He knew, at 42, he would be the second-oldest player to reach 3,000. But he also demanded to do it properly.
“Are you at the end of your career and can barely play and are just chasing this number and can barely get there?” he asked. “Or are you part of a team trying to win ballgames, going about your business properly as you go past that number?
“I think going about it properly, about winning, that is what I want to experience. That is what is important for me.”
This is what the Marlins needed, too. The fact the hit came on the road was unfortunate for South Florida. But it underlined the idea that, under manager Don Mattingly, they’ve changed the way they go about business.
They’re not a circus show like in recent years. They’re about building the product in a winning manner. They’re in the playoff hunt. Ichiro’s 3,000 hit, a triple, was a spark to seal a needed win toward that goal.
The fact they based his playing schedule on winning and not marketing tells fans that owner Jeffrey Loria is wising up and following his baseball people’s lead. At least for now.
Which brings us to Rodriguez, who announced his pseudo-retirement on Sunday, ultimately sharing baseball headlines with Ichiro. He said he’d consider playing more, if just to hit four more home runs and reach 700.
Since he’s a South Florida product and since Loria is Loria, the connected dots suggested the Marlins might be interested in Rodriguez. Come on, folks. If they weren’t going to over-market the Ichiro’s feat even with him playing two years here, why take on the circus of A-Rod?
To revert into a clown show?
Ichiro ended his news conferences Monday — one in English, one in Japanese — and then walked back to the clubhouse. He began stretching, as is his custom, before his locker.
The headlines can return to the rhythm of August now — to Rio’s heroes, to football’s start, to baseball’s other names. He’s fine with that.
“What I’m looking at is playing baseball every day, getting each at-bat and enjoying each game,” Ichiro said.
Next stop: Hit 3,001.
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