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The unveiling of Hall of Fame Ichiro Suzuki's statue went a little unplanned.
On Friday, April 10, the Seattle Mariners revealed the Ichiro statue at the Seattle ballpark, which saw the bronze bat snapped as curtains were removed from the legend's statue.
Ahead of unveiling, broadcaster Rick Rizzs declared "We're going to count down from 51!" a nod to Suzuki's jersey number, which was retired by the Mariners.
As the curtain covering the bronze statue was pulled down, a snapping noise could be heard, with the bat falling down amid confetti.
"Here it is! The statue of one of the greatest players in the history of the game!" Rizzs declared.
The statue depicts Suzuki in his batting stance. He took the accident light-heartedly, as he joked through an interpreter that New York Yankees Hall of Fame closer Mariano Rivera got the best of him again.
"I didn't think Mariano would come out here and break the bat," Suzuki said with a smile.
The bat was fixed quickly, and the statue was sculpted by Chicago-based Lou Cella, who also produced statues of Mariners greats Ken Griffey Jr and Edgar Martinez.
Suzuki was inducted into the Hall of Fame last summer and became only the third Mariners player to have his jersey retired by the franchise, joining Griffey (No. 24) and Martinez (No. 11).
Griffey and Martinez joined Suzuki for the ceremony and helped him pull the curtain off the statue.
"To have this moment with them, I look back at how it all started," Suzuki said. "And it's just been an unbelievable experience."
Ichiro Suzuki made history as the first Japanese-born player inducted into the Hall of Fame, earning a near-unanimous 99.7% of the vote from the Baseball Writers' Association of America.
