Cleanse Your MLB Lockout Blues With A Delightful Video Of Ichiro Suzuki Getting Pedro Martinez's Autograph
BOSTON (CBS) -- You have to be a pretty big deal to be known around the world by just one name. In the world of baseball, Ichiro and Pedro certainly fit that bill.
Pedro Martinez is a first ballot Hall of Famer, and Ichiro Suzuki will surely gain the same achievement when he's eligible for the Hall in 2025. Both players captivated baseball fans for the better part of two decades, but they also were quite fond of each other.
That much is evident from a clip going around Twitter from the early 2000s, showing a starstruck Ichiro getting an autograph from Pedro.
Rob Friedman, aka "@PitchingNinja," shared the video this week, and it's impossible to not enjoy it.
Ichiro didn't debut in MLB until he was 27 years old, after establishing himself as a star in Japan. He quickly became a sensation with Seattle, making the All-Star team for his first 10 seasons after winning AL MVP, Rookie of the Year, a Gold Glove Award and a Silver Slugger Award in 2001.
At that point, Pedro was already a three-time Cy Young Award winner and a five-time All-Star.
While the players came from opposite ends of the earth, their appreciation for each other was evident in that brief exchange.
(Ichiro was 1-for-4 off Pedro in their first meeting, with Suzuki managing to squeeze out an infield single on a night when Martinez allowed just three hits over eight shutout innings.)
And with the lockout casting a dark cloud over the sport of baseball and MLB at the moment, a moment like that may be just the spiritual boost needed for baseball fans at this precise moment in time.
