This lot is closed. Bidding ended on 6/27/2002.
Born 28 years ago, on October 22, 1973 in the Aichi prefecture of Japan, Ichiro Suzuki was born with the love for baseball in his blood. This continued well into his high school career at Aichi Engineering University's Nagoya Electric High School, also known as Aikodai Meiden. There, he participated in the National High School Baseball Tournament, while at the same time balancing a rigorous academic schedule. Fresh out of high school the Orix Blue Waves, a Japanese professional baseball team drafted him. His dreams of becoming a professional baseball player came true.
Ichiro belonged to the Orix Blue Wave, one of the Japanese professional baseball teams, from 1992 (the year of this jersey) to 2000 season. He achieved seven consecutive batting titles in Japan. His batting average in Japan is .353 and he batted .387 in 2000 season in Japan. In 2000, the Mariners signed a contract with the Blue Waves for the amount of $13.125 million to obtain the rights to talk to Ichiro. On November 18, 2000, he signed a three-year contract with the Mariners for $14 million. Ichiro is the first position player to have moved to the major league from Japan.
Standing 5 feet 9, and weighing 160 lbs., he is relatively smaller than his counterparts in the United States, but the numbers speak for themselves-a league-leading .350 batting average, 242 hits, 56 stolen bases, 127 runs scored. And that's as a rookie! As he had in Japan, Ichiro Suzuki became an overnight sensation in Seattle in 2001 and led the Mariners to a record-tying 116 regular season wins. He was an obvious choice for A.L. Rookie of the Year (and should have been a unanimous choice) and became the first rookie since Boston's Fred Lynn in 1975 to win a league MVP award. Though he was the Rookie of the Year, Ichiro had been performing at the same level in Japan for years. He's now proven he can do it in America, and considering he just turned 28 years of age in October, he likely will be productive on this side of the pond for many seasons to come. We are extremely excited to have been given the opportunity to offer this one-of-a-kind item to our collectors. This 1992 Blue Wave game-used white mesh jersey was worn by Ichiro during his rookie season in 1992 and again in 1993. It is general knowledge that in the Japan Pro League mesh jerseys are more popular than knit styles. Ichiro did not use knit, always mesh jerseys. On the inside back tail is the year tag "92" and next to this is the player number "51". The front of the jersey bears the name "Blue Wave" in script-style letters made of gold on blue tackle twill and on the reverse is the name "Ichiro" in blue tackle twill. The player number "51" appears on both the left breast and on the back of the jersey. The number on the front is made of blue tackle twill and the number on the reverse in made of gold tackle twill. On the left sleeve is the "Orix" patch and on the right sleeve is the "Kobe" patch. The jersey has no alterations and shows good game use. This jersey was consigned to us by well known sports commentator, Shigeo Maeno. Also known as Ichiro's friend, Maeno obtained it directly from Ichiro. Includes a signed letter of authenticity from Shigeo Maeno. Shigeo Maeno will donate his winning proceeds to the charity "Make A Wish Japan". This is a rare opportunity to acquire a rookie jersey of a new international superstar!