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Ichiro Suzuki is PGC's All Star!

by Billy Berghammer - July 10, 2001, 12:15 pm EDT
Source: Reuters

Tonight's Major Leauge Baseball game in Seattle will have a GBA ad right behind home plate, but not in English....

If you know anything about baseball, Seattle Mariners rookie slugger Ichiro Suzuki, and pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki should be a names you're familiar with. Ichiro is the big name right now though, hitting .347 for the best team in baseball and leads the AL in runs scored with 76. One could almost guarantee that Ken Griffey is out of the next Nintendo baseball title and Ichiro is in. Also, don't forget that Nintendo owns the Seattle Mariners. Due to the fact that he's Japanese, this title would sell well in the US and Japan. Big time.

During tonight's All Star Game in Seattle, Nintendo will be having a Game Boy Advance advertisement behind home plate....but it won't be in English. Surprising? Not really when you concider how many Japanese will be watching this game. Click

here for a news story to understand the craze that follows Ichiro, and read on about how big this game is going to be in Japan!

SEATTLE (Reuters) - Seattle has put out the welcome mat, and in big, bold Japanese letters it reads ``Yohkoso.''

The Emerald City Seattle is awash in things Japanese thanks to the prowess of its two baseball All-Stars from across the Pacific, Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki.

By the Seattle Mariners home Safeco Field, there is a billboard that reads ``Welcome (Yohkoso) All-Stars'' in Japanese.

Area restaurants are broadcasting over the radio in Japanese and the Seattle Police Department has started to distribute a Japanese-language brochure called ``Personal Safety Tips for Tourists'' for the thousands of Japanese visitors heading to Seattle to watch their hometown heroes play ball.

Japanese videogame maker Nintendo will have a Japanese-language ad for its new GameBoy Advance placed behind home plate on a rotating billboard for the All-Star Game.

At the ballpark, concession stands sell traditional fare such as hot dogs along with sushi, Japanese-style boxed lunches and stir fry for the Japanese crowds calling Safeco their home.

Japan is also the top international trading partner for Seattle, with yearly commerce of about $6 billion -- excluding baseball players.

All around the ball park, fans are wearing Ichiro jerseys and licensed goods merchants said Ichiro goods were their top-selling items.

Japanese student Isao Hino came to Seattle four months ago because he was attracted to the city after seeing it so many times in Japan on reports about the Mariners.

Hino, one of the swarms of people milling about Safeco Field before the All-Star game said he was impressed with the city, but it might not be the best place to study English.

``Almost every place I go, there is someone who speaks Japanese. I hardly ever use English when I am out in the city,'' Hino said, adding that he has been to the ballpark three times to see Ichiro play.

JAPAN'S TEAM

The Mariners have become the major league team adopted by Japan.

All of their games are broadcast live in the country and they have been picking up viewers as the season has progressed and Ichiro and Sasaki have helped the team to the best record in baseball.

National Japanese public broadcaster NHK wired Safeco Field for digital high-definition TV broadcasts, and while ratings numbers for Mariners games climb in Japan, ratings for Japan's professional league are falling.

In 1999, about 110,000 Japanese visited Seattle and although official numbers have not been tabulated, travel agency officials expect that number to top 200,000 this year.

At each Mariners home game, between 300 to 500 baseball fans from Japan are in the stands, after paying about $2,000 each for a Mariners package tour that includes a game at Safeco, according to Japanese travel agencies.

Seattle is home to one of the oldest Japanese-American communities in the country, and according to the local chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League, there are about 40,000 Japanese-Americans in the city.

``The success of Ichiro and Sasaki has made people more sensitive to the various ethnic groups in the city,'' said one organization member.

WINNING BASEBALL

Ethnic sensitivity may be one thing, but winning baseball is another.

The Mariners took a chance when they signed Sasaki two years ago. Although he was Japan's all-time leader in saves, Sasaki was coming off of arm surgery and there were many big league scouts who were not sure if a Japanese relief star could be an effective closer in the majors.

Seattle thought he could make the grade, and they were right. Sasaki set a rookie record of 37 saves last year and he is tied for the league-lead in saves this year.

Ichiro was a seven-time batting champ in Japan and the Mariners bid more than any other team in baseball to land him to become the first position player in the league.

Their gamble has paid off as Ichiro is leading the league in hits and is near the top in batting average and stolen bases.

``The fact is that the Mariners are playing winning baseball and the Japanese players have key roles in the team,'' said Mariners fan Pete Higgins.

``The whole team is the MVP, not only Ichiro, but there are only about 20 things interesting about the guy, and that is why he is holding all of our attention,'' Higgins said as he guided his family through a Mariners team history exhibit outside the ballpark.

Thanks to nintenDONUT2001 for the slight tip.

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