The Seattle Mariners unveiled a statue honoring franchise legend Ichiro Suzuki on Friday, with Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez helping pull the curtain off the bronze statue. The statue's bat broke during the unveiling when the curtain was pulled down.
Ichiro Suzuki noticed the broken bat immediately and pointed upwards in astonishment. He and Ken Griffey Jr. laughed at the mishap.
I didn't think Mariano would come out here and break the bat.
Ichiro Suzuki joked that Mariano Rivera broke the bat. He also reflected on the incident, noting that the broken bat reminds him he still needs to keep going, similar to missing one vote in the Hall of Fame election. The bat was fixed and reconnected shortly after the incident.
The Seattle Mariners poked fun at the incident with a social media post about updating the replica statue giveaway. The statue was sculpted by Chicago-based Lou Cella. Ichiro Suzuki wore a jersey from the 2001 season for a photo shoot with the sculptor.
I can say I was happy that I was still able to fit into that uniform, and probably could say Junior and Edgar probably couldn't do that. So, I was happy about that.
Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer. The Seattle Mariners retired his jersey number (51). Miniaturized Ichiro replica statues were given away at Friday's game against the Houston Astros.
To have this moment with them, I look back at how it all started. And it's just been an unbelievable experience.
In the Hall of Fame, I was short one vote. Today, the bat was broke. It kind of lets me know that I'm still not there, that I still need to keep going. So, this is a good example of that.