Ichiro Suzuki retires to ovation after sparkling 27-year baseball career

Ichiro Suzuki was showered with cheers and chants on Thursday night while taking his final bow in a magnificent career that lasted nearly three decades when the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 5-4 in Tokyo.

The 45-year-old Ichiro went 0 for 4 in the second game of the Major League Baseball season, which was being played in his home country of Japan. He got a chance at a storybook ending at the jammed Tokyo Dome when he came up with two outs, a runner on second base and a tie score in the eighth inning, but grounded out. Ichiro drew a huge ovation from fans and teammates when he was pulled from right field in the bottom of the eighth inning. The noise from the sellout crowd of 45,000 diminished after his exit.

“I have achieved so many of my dreams in baseball, both in my career in Japan and, since 2001, in Major League Baseball,” Ichiro said in a statement after the game. “I am honored to end my big league career where it started, with Seattle, and think it is fitting that my last games as a professional were played in my home country of Japan.”

A 10-time All-Star in the majors, Ichiro got 3,089 hits over a 19-year career in the big leagues after getting 1,278 while starring for nine seasons in Japan. His combined total of 4,367 is a professional record.

Ichiro’s teammates met him outside the dugout for a proper send-off in a three-minute tribute. The Mariners’ Yusei Kikuchi, who on Thursday became the first Japanese-born player to make his major league debut in Japan, bowed to Ichiro. He then teared up as he buried his head into Ichiro’s shoulder. Kikuchi could be Japan’s next big baseball star, having signed a contact in January that could be worth $109m over seven years.

Domingo Santana, who hit a grand slam in Seattle’s 9-7 win in the opener on Wednesday, beat out a double-play relay with the bases loaded to drive in the go-ahead run in the 12th inning.