My meeting with Ichiro

Wandered over to the Seattle Mariners clubhouse before their game against the A's to try to do a quick interview with Ichiro Suzuki. I was working on a story on fellow Japanese countrymen Keiichi Yabu for Wednesday's publication and thought Ichiro might be able to add his insights. You know it's not going to be your day when an old friend tells me Ichiro fouled a ball off his foot the day before and was getting treatment in the trainer's room. I noticed a pack of Japanese writers waiting to pounce on the Japanese megastar. The elusive Mr. Ichiro finally walked out of the trainer's room and to his locker. I was the first on the scene. I asked him if he remembered facing Yabu and what kind of pitcher he was. "Need interpreter," Ichiro told me. (As I learned later, Ichiro speaks some English, but since he did not recognize me this was his way of, how should I say, blowing me off.) And this pause was the small opening the Japanese media needed to get me out of the way. For them, there was news to be had: The great Ichiro had an injury. They file daily reports on the single-season hits leader, so this story would certainly break up the monotony. After they were finished, I asked one of them if he wouldn't mind interpreting for me since the Mariners' interpreter was nowhere to be found. There are certain customs in Japan, and, I was blindly unaware that a Japanese writer has the utmost respect for the player he covers and would never translate under any circumstance. (Nor would the player want him to.) My bad. To make a long story (or blog) short, Ichiro returned to the trainer's room. His interpreter then arrived and I asked him if he wouldn't mind helping me. The young man said he also served as the team's bullpen catcher and had to leave soon to warm up a pitcher. He was kind enough to go into the trainer's room and ask Ichiro one or two of my questions before returning with quotes. This whole scene _ the wait and all _ consumed about two hours. Just another day in paradise.