It¡¯s been over two years, and Amy Franz still has no idea how Ichiro Suzuki knew it was her birthday. That particular June 11, in 2014, Franz, a longtime Mariners fan, was sitting in right field, as usual, at Seattle¡¯s Safeco Field. She was watching for foul balls during batting practice while her husband, Joe, sat next to her using a camera she¡¯d received as a gift.
Ichiro, then with the New York Yankees, was practicing in center field when they noticed him pull out a sharpie and begin scribbling on a baseball.
¡°Then he starts walking out towards right,¡± Franz said during a recent telephone conversation with The Japan Times. ¡°I hadn¡¯t talked to him before (during that season). He threw the ball up to me and it said, ¡®To Amy: Happy B.D.¡¯ He signed ¡®Ichiro¡¯ on the sweetspot and the other side has the date.
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