Ichiro Works Out in Kobe, Says Stuff

AP Photo / Kyodo News

The AP reports on Ichiro’s workout in Kobe on Tuesday, peppered with a few quotes. On re-upping with the Yankees…

Signing with the Yankees has given me a new sense of determination… This is a unique team, a team that can have a player like Alex Rodriguez as a pinch hitter is special and to be part of that is exciting.

AP Photo / Kyodo News

On sitting out of this spring’s World Baseball Classic…

There is no reason for me to explain that here.

On turning 40 in October…

It’s annoying to be asked about age.

AP Photo / Kyodo News

It appears he was wearing his new Mizuno Crosstic threads… Does anybody know what that logo is on his cap?

More photos at Sanspo.com.

A New Ichiro Documentary!

Someone named “m” linked to this new, 72-minute, Japanese-language Ichiro documentary in the previous post’s comments. I haven’t watched it all yet, but here ’tis… Thanks, m!

A New Ichiro Documentary?

As best as I can tell, a new Ichiro documentary (or at least a new news segment) aired on Japan’s NHK on December 29. The teaser above shows our man jogging anonymously in New York, lifting weights, practicing his swing in his Manhattan digs, driving around town, and getting his face licked by his beloved Shiba Inu, Ikkyu.

All this came to my attention via these screenshots, recently posted on tumblr by blood2energy…

Here’s a slightly longer jogging segment, shot while some dog other than Ikkyu takes a shit…