Seattle Mariners legend and MLB Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki spent 19 seasons dominating the world’s best pitchers.
Six years after retiring, he’s still dominating on the baseball field — although it’s now against high school girls.
The Seattle Times reported on Thursday that Ichiro tossed a 127-pitch shutout with 17 strikeouts during a game against Japan’s best high-school girl baseball team.
This was part of an annual All-Star Game that’s meant to promote women’s baseball in Japan. It took place in front of 25,000 fans at the iconic Tokyo Dome.
The now 52-year-old Ichiro has competed in this event before. He tallied 17 strikeouts when facing the girls team back in 2021, and threw a 116-pitch shutout with nine strikeouts in 2024.
Ichiro’s participation surely brings a lot of attention to the event, which shines a spotlight on women’s baseball in Japan.
“I wanted to see what my current limits were, and this gave me confidence in myself,” Ichiro said afterwards.
Ichiro was voted into the MLB Hall of Fame on his first ballot in 2019, getting 393 of 394 votes.
Perhaps the lone writer who left him off their Hall of Fame ballot is reconsidering their decision after seeing Ichiro’s pitching prowess against Japanese high school girls.
