English Essay by Brian Southwick, Niigata City ALT

62 Ichiro ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

A few weeks ago, Japanese baseball star Ichiro Suzuki was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees in the US major leagues. This was big news in Japan. Even people who are not fans of baseball were excited that Ichiro, now 38 years old, has a good chance to play in this year’s World Series.

Have you followed Ichiro’s career in major league baseball? In twelve seasons in the United States, Ichiro has accomplished things that no one else has done. Ichiro joined the Seattle Mariners in 2001 after playing nine seasons for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan. Since moving to the US to play, Ichiro’s name has entered the baseball record books many times.

The Seattle Mariners are a team in the American League, usually called the AL. The other league is the National League, so American baseball has 2 leagues like Japanese baseball. His first year in Seattle, Ichiro was the leader in batting average and stolen bases. For these accomplishments he was named AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player at the end of the season. These great honors have been followed by many others.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ＲＥＡＤＩＮＧ (slow) (fast)

One of Ichiro’s greatest records came during the 2004 season. At the end of September, Ichiro had 256 hits. The all-time record was 257. The Mariners had only 3 games left to play in the season. People wondered if Ichiro could tie or break the record, which was set in 1920. On October 1 the Mariners played the Texas Rangers. In the first inning Ichiro made his 257th hit. He was now tied as the all-time leader for hits for a season. In the third inning Ichiro was at bat again. The count was three balls, two strikes. The atmosphere in the stadium was tense and exciting. Fans were standing and cheering Ichiro loudly. Ichiro hit the next pitch up the middle. Hit number 258! Ichiro had four more hits against Texas to end the season with 262.

Another old baseball record that was broken by Ichiro was the record for most seasons in a row with 200 or more hits. On September 13, 2009, playing against the Texas Rangers, Ichiro made hit number 200 for the year, his 9th year in a row to hit at least 200. The old record of 8 seasons was from 1901.

Ichiro has gotten almost every award a player can get in baseball, but there is one thing he still doesn’t have, a World Series ring. I hope 2012 is his championship year.

＜注＞
A few weeks ago（数週間前），was traded（トレードされた）
in the US major leagues（アメリカのメジャーリーグで）
Even people who are not fans of baseball（野球ファンではない人々でさえも）
followed（振り返る，たどる），career（業績），has accomplished（達成した）
things that no one else has done（誰も為し得なかったこと），joined（加わった）
Since（〜以来，〜から），has entered（入る，載る）
usually called the AL（普通ALと呼ばれている），like Japanese baseball（日本の野球のように）
batting average（打率），stolen bases（盗塁），accomplishments（成果）
was named（名付けられた，呼ばれた）
Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player（新人王と最優秀選手）
at the end of （〜の終わりに），honors（栄光，名誉），greatest records（最も偉大な記録）
The all-time record（今までの記録），only 3 games left（わずか3試合しか残されていない）
wondered（心配した，知りたい気持ちになった），tie or break（並ぶか破る）
was set（打ち立てられた），as the all-time leader（今までの記録保持者として）
at bat（打席に入る），atmosphere（空気，雰囲気），tense（緊張した）
the next pitch up the middle（次の投球をセンターに），was broken（破られた）
in a row（連続して），at least（少なくとも），has gotten（得た,gotten→getの過去分詞）
almost every award（ほとんどどの賞も）





Questions and Answers: Answer the questions in a complete sentence in English.


Q1. How many seasons did Ichiro play in Japan?
A1.

Q2. What was Ichiro named his first year in the major leagues?
A2.

Q3. When did Ichiro get his 257th hit in 2004?
A3.

Q4. Why is September 13, 2009, an important date in Ichiro’s career?
A4.

Q5. Who inspires you? Why?
A5.




＜解答例＞

A1. He played nine seasons.

A2. He was named AL Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player.

A3. He got it on October 1.

A4. Because he made hit number 200 for the year.

A5. 　ex. Tabuse Yuta does. Because he could play basketball in the NBA
　　　　　　as the first Japanese player.