Dream comes true for Ichiro Suzuki when he pitches one inning in finale
Dee Gordon winning the National League batting title wasn’t the only notable news from the Marlins on the final day of the regular season.
Veteran outfielder Ichiro Suzuki finally was able to fulfill his dream of pitching in a major league game when Miami manager Dan Jennings put him on the mound in the bottom of the eighth inning of Philadelphia’s 7-2 win.
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Ichiro has been lobbying managers throughout his time in baseball, both here in America and in Japan, to allow him to pitch. When he finally got the chance on Sunday, he threw multiple pitches, including a fastball and slider.
He made it through the entire inning, facing five batters. He gave up two doubles, one earned run and did not record a strikeout or walk a batter.
.@Marlins outfielder Ichiro talks about making his first MLB appearance on the mound. https://t.co/wvMLmMn8OL
— FOX Sports Florida (@FOXSportsFL) October 4, 2015
The five Philadelphia hitters who were able to be a part of Ichiro’s historic moment on the mound will have a story to tell for years to come, especially Odubel Herrera and Darnell Sweeney, both of whom doubled off the potential future Hall of Famer.
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Ichiro induced a fly ball to center from Cameron Rupp for the first out. He got Freddy Galvis out on a grounder to second and recorded the final out when Aaron Altherr flied out to left.
“I was shocked my fastball wasn’t my best pitch. I’m never going to say a bad thing about a pitcher again.” –#Ichiro pic.twitter.com/L4CRlHhX6l
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) October 4, 2015
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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo
