"Baseball Is Just Baseball": The Understated Ichiro

Nonfiction – Baseball; Seattle Mariners; Ichiro Suzuki | TNI Books | Paperback, 120 pages | 2001 | $10.00 | ISBN 0967870313 (978-0967870311) |

“Ichiro shines through on the pages of “Baseball is Just Baseball” as the ultimate wry observer, bemused by press attention, grateful for the warmth of his fans, and ultimately philosophical about the game itself. He’s focused on process, not results. And he seems to have a pure love of sport that, while filtered through a foreign language and culture, is as absolutely American as anyone in the game. . . . By shooting for the purity and cleanliness of lightly contextualized quotes, Shields has put together a book that delivers a straight-up dose of Ichiro to his readers. Future volumes by other writers—some ponderous, pretentious and overwritten, no doubt—can try to tell us what it all means. “Baseball is Just Baseball” is an ethereal joy unto itself.” —James Norton, Flak Magazine

In 2001, Ichiro Suzuki arrived in Seattle to become the new star attraction of the Mariners, a team whose limited success over its 24-year history had been based on the raw force of homers and strikeouts. Ichiro’s dedication to craft and his remarkable defensive and offensive skills represented a new kind of tactical baseball for the Mariners. He propelled the team to a phenomenal season in 2001: Seattle won 116 games, tied for the most ever.

Over the following years, Ichiro’s baseball style has continued to captivate an American audience in addition to the mass following he had developed while playing in Japan. “Baseball is Just Baseball”: The Understated Ichiro distills some of his statements, primarily from the first half of 2001, into a portrait of Ichiro’s character and philosophy. He’s shown to be much more than merely another excellent ballplayer. Ichiro’s unique perspective on the game can apply to the rest of life as well: his focus, his self-containment and resistance to external pressure, his self-imposed performance standards, his uncanny humor—these all speak to our need to live our own lives both more intently and less seriously.

Discussion Questions:

1. In many of these quotations, Ichiro refuses to entertain expectations for his performance, and he also declines to set his performance against a historical or statistical standard. He also, however, shows himself to be aware of precedents and the history of baseball. What do you think of this seeming contradiction?
2. In his introduction, David Shields acknowledges that Ichiro’s words may have “acquired a lyrical glamour as they got translated from Japanese to English.” To what extent is Ichiro’s charisma based on his foreignness and his apparent inability to speak English?
3. Ichiro emphasizes his attempt to meet a standard he establishes for himself, rather than an external standard. He has a corresponding unwillingness to be content with his performance. How did this trait of forming goals for himself help him adapt to the shift from Japanese to American baseball?
4. Ichiro also seems very confident of his abilities: he doesn’t talk about trying, but about doing, and he shows little surprise at his success in making the transition to major league baseball. At one point he says, “I play baseball for myself,” not for the team. This attitude can be interpreted as arrogance. Is Ichiro arrogant?
5. Ichiro focuses on the importance of team togetherness, as well as his relationship to fans. He seems to want to avoid isolating himself from other players and the fans who watch him play. Does he succeed in resolving the conflict between his self-imposed standards and his focus on the team and the fans who watch him play?
6. Ichiro’s devotion to his craft is revealed in the custom-made gloves he wears, his intense study of the technical aspects of baseball, and his concern for protecting the sharpness of his vision by not watching movies. At the same time, he acknowledges that “baseball is just baseball”: he isn’t prone to hyperbole about the sport and its importance. Why then does he place such importance on succeeding in baseball?
7. Ichiro’s playfulness is expressed in the many offbeat quotes reprinted in this volume. He resists repeating the clichés that make up so much of sports discourse. How has this uniqueness helped attract attention to him?
8. Ichiro seems remarkably able to concentrate intently on particular objects and events, whether it’s a particular opposing pitcher, a particular at-bat, or a particular defensive play. Do you think this helps him avoid feeling the pressure that could come with being closely followed by so many Japanese and Americans?
9. Ichiro’s undemonstrative style of play, his foreignness to an American audience, and his seeming arrogance all leave him vulnerable to being misunderstood in the U.S. Does he recognize this danger, and if so, does he seem concerned about it?
10. The author acknowledges that he may be “making too much of” the philosophy Ichiro seems to deliver in his quotes, but he also hopes that the reader will “find them as provocative and inspiring as I do.” Do you think Ichiro’s approach to baseball is in any way applicable to your own life?  Or are his quotes only an amusing sidelight to his on-field performance?