Ichiro Suzuki is headed into his 17th season in Major League Baseball, but he’s not planning on retiring anytime soon.
The Miami Marlins outfielder is 43 years old and is the second-oldest player in the league after Atlanta Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon, who only has a few months on Ichiro. But it might be a matter of time before the Japan native takes the top spot because he told the Miami Herald’s Clark Spencer he wants to keep playing until he’s 50.
In fact, Ichiro is so crazy about baseball that he doesn’t even take vacations. Here’s an excerpt from Spencer:
The last time he took one — 2004 or ’05, he doesn’t recall which — was a week-long trip to Milan, Italy. He worked out pretty much the entire time and said the excursion threw him out of sync for two or three weeks.
Never again, he vowed.
“That’s the last time I took a vacation,” he said.
Through translator Allen Turner, Ichiro said his offseason is three or four days, tops. When his team has an off day, he spends it working out and working on his swing. The only time Ichiro really travels anywhere outside baseball is when he takes the occasional trip to Cooperstown to go to the Hall of Fame, which he knows like the back of his hand.
And Ichiro’s reason for working like crazy is pretty simple.
“When you retire from baseball, you have until the day you die to rest,” Ichiro told Spencer.
And when retirement finally does come for Ichiro, he can’t imagine what he’ll do with himself.
“I think I’ll just die,” he said.
Thumbnail photo via Steve Mitchell/USA TODAY Sports Images
