Occasionally, professional athletes will join a pick-up game or stop by a local school to encourage those who are just getting into their sport. This is, in general, good — so long as the professional doesn’t use the time to showcase their full power against the largely-defenseless tweens.


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Thankfully, most athletes have the understanding that they need to tone down their ability in these friendly matches. On the other hand, Ichiro Suzuki is not most athletes.



According to CNN, there’s a semi-frequent baseball game in Japan amongst high school girls designed to encourage more women to enter the sport. This year, Suzuki decided to participate in hopes of furthering the cause — sort of. Instead of jogging the bases and lobbing a few meatballs over the plate, Suzuki opted to “encourage” the teens by serving up heater after heater.


“According to MLB.com, Ichiro threw a 116-pitch, complete game shutout and struck out nine in the 4-0 victory at the Tokyo Dome,” reads the CNN article. “He even dusted off an 86-miles-per-hour fastball during the game which, in truth, might give some of the best hitters in the world something to think about.”




While some were critical of the move, the actual players seemed to love it, and one even managed to strike him out. “I was determined to get a win, but the fact that I got to strike him out is a memory I will cherish forever,” Okayama Gakugeikan High School’s Ryona Domae told Japan’s TBS Sports. “Knowing that I was able to strike out Ichiro, I think I can compete with confidence in future matches.”


And hey, if you’re a high school girl in Japan who wants a crack at striking out Ichiro, he says that he’ll be back to do this all again next year. Let the training begin now!