Ichiro has a fashion admirer/mimic in Mariners DH Jack Cust

Published 1:53 pm Saturday, February 19, 2011

Jack Cust will never be confused for Ichiro Suzuki, (although nobody would care if can hit home runs during games this year like Ichiro does in batting practice).

However, about 10 minutes into Ichiro’s talk with reporters after his first spring training workout today, someone asked him

what he thought of the guy sitting at the locker across from him.

There, just a few feet away, the robust Cust sat on his stool doing his best to make like Ichiro. Not with a bat, but with fashion. Cust had rolled up the legs of his jeans to expose his calves, the same way Ichiro was wearing his jeans.

Ichiro said something, and his interpreter, Antony Suzuki (no relation), turned to Cust and asked, “Is that intentional Jack?”

Ichiro smiled and Cust got up, called him “bro” and gave him a fist bump before walking away – the jeans still rolled up high.

So, Ichiro, does Cust wear that look well?

“To break it down, I’m the good sample and he’s the bad sample,” Ichiro said.

Here’s how Ichiro answered some more serious questions:

• Do you feel older every spring training (he’s 37): “Looking at all the media people here, I do feel the age.”

• Does your preparation change as you get older? “That changes every year. You feel different physically so you have to adapt to your body every year.”

• How do you determine what you change? “It’s hard to say because I don’t think just with my brain. My physical condition explains that and I have a sensor that will tell me when to change. You could operate just with your brain and say, ‘When I’m 20 I’ll do this and when I’m 25 I’ll do this.’ I don’t think that’s a good indicator because we all are different physically and mentally.”

• Were your changes this year subtle or radically different? “They are all minor adjustments, nothing dramatic. I’m not supposed be having that kind of adjustment at this stage, at this level.”

• What was today like with all the new faces in camp? “Every first spring training day is always a good day. You meet your old teammates, you’ve got new faces. It’s a new start and you have a lot of hope.”

• What is your impression of new manager Eric Wedge and his message to the team today? “He’s got a strong heart. He’s not very emotional although he can get emotional, which is good. You can see that he’s not the kind of guy who will sway. He’s got his own strong feelings that he will come right after you, which is good. It’s what this team needs. My impressions were that he’s got such a strong base, it’s not just him talking with his emotions. He’s got a very big picture in his mind and he’s definitely a different type of manager than we’ve had in the past.”

• How do you put last season behind you? “I don’t remember too much of what happened last year. That’s how I operate.”

• How different is Wedge as a manager than Don Wakamatsu? “He’s totally different from Wak. He expresses his feelings in a different way. But the thing they have in common is they have a very strong feeling toward the game and a good feel toward the game to stick with the basic fundamentals.”

• What does this team need to do better, differently, than last year? “It’s hard to say at this point. We just started our first day as a team. We have a new team, it’s very different than last year. We have to find what we need to work on and take it from there.”

• In your 11th year in the majors, did you ever think you would be here this long? “It doesn’t feel like I’ve played too long yet. It feels like I’ve been myself. Maybe I can say I’ve come halfway there.”

• How is your golf game? “It sucks. It’s hard to hit a ball that’s sitting still.”