Ichiro Suzuki joined his first baseball team at seven years old. He became a dedicated player. He had the word 'concentration' written on his glove. He was determined to turn pro, and practice sessions with his father stopped being fun, and bordered on hazing. He was a pitcher in high school, but still hit nineteen home runs and batted .505. He was selected in the fourth round of the NPB draft, due to his small size of 5'9" and 124 lbs. Ichiro spent nine seasons playing ball in Japan. He had 1,278 hits, a career batting average of .353, and seven Golden Gloves. He joined the MLB in 2001. He was issued jersey number 51 when he joined the Mariners. It was previously worn by Randy Johnson. Ichiro wrote to him and promised not to bring shame to the number. In 2001, he was the number one player voted to the All Star Game, and won the AL Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year, as well as a Golden Glove and a Silver Slugger Award. His 1000th hit was a single. His 2,000th hit was a double. His 3,000th hit was a triple. Ichiro became friends with Buck O'Neil. He made the largest donation by an active player to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. Ben Gibbard wrote a song about him. Ichiro speaks English well, but still used an interpreter so as not to be misunderstood. He also learned Spanish early in his MLB career so he could trash talk Latin American players. Bob Costas once asked Ichiro what his favorite American expression was. He replied, "In August in Kansas City, it's hotter than two rats in a fucking old sock." Ichiro was once asked if he was excited to go to Cleveland. He said, "To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying." Tom Brady once texted him to ask about his workout regimen, and Ichiro asked the other guys in the clubhouse, "Who the fuck is Tom Brady?" He gave a profanity-laced pep talk to his teammates before every All Star Game he played in. Ichiro retired from the MLB after nineteen seasons with 3,089 hits and a career average of .311.