If you are going to pick someone to impersonate, there’s no one cooler than Ichiro.
Even though baseball superstar Ichiro has slowed down a bit in recent years (Can you blame him? He’s 42!), he’s still finding ways to impress the heck out of all of us. While not playing as an everyday starter for the Miami Marlins, Ichiro is batting an incredible .350 average (that’s 3.5 hits for every 10 at bats) and while he started the year 65 hits shy of 3,000, a huge milestone for any major league batter, he’s rapidly approaching the mark with apparent ease.
There is another number that is even more important for Japanese baseball fans, and that is the all-time hits record of 4,256 held by Pete Rose. With Ichiro’s 1,278 hits from his Japan League days combined with his current total of 2,977 in the Major Leagues, as of Tuesday, June 15, he is just one hit shy of tying the record. While many American fans, and Pete Rose himself, don’t count the non-Major League hits, that doesn’t matter one bit to the Japanese. There has been a huge fervor this season, and each of Ichiro’s games are being broadcast back in his home country. So many reporters from Japanese newspapers are following the Marlins around, you would think they were the best team in baseball.
Fans from Ichiro’s home country are celebrating his monumental milestone and one is even working a routine that will probably make you do a double take.
This doppelganger or second Ichiro, Ni-chiro if you will, was caught on camera at a recent Miami game. Not only does he look quite a lot like the famous baseball player, but he’s really got his motions down pat.
There are plenty of kids in Japan who have grown up over the years practicing the movements of Ichiro, because while almost no one else can hit like him, they could all pretend to be him. Who knew that one day it would land one person on national television in the United States?!
Whether you are counting all his hits or not, Ichiro is an absolute shoe-in for the Baseball Hall of Fame, and this year he is going to reach another landmark in his historic career. And that is certainly something worth applauding.
Top image: Twitter/@FOXSportsSD edited by RocketNews24
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