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Ichiro Suzuki's statue unveiling goes poorly for Mariners
Ichiro Suzuki looks on before the game against the Cleveland Guardians at Peoria Sports Complex. Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Ichiro Suzuki's statue unveiling goes poorly for Mariners

The Seattle Mariners unveiled a statue for Ichiro Suzuki, one of the team's greatest all-time players, on Friday, and in a testament to how the season has gone so far, the ceremony ended with a bat issue. 

As the cover was pulled off the statue, the bat that the Ichiro statue was holding snapped at the handle and became noticeably dislodged. 

Ichiro's statue unveiling does not go as planned for Mariners

Ichiro is one of the best pure hitters of the modern era and was inducted into the Hall of Fame this past year following a 19-year Major League career spent primarily with the Mariners.

He collected  3,089 hits, including 2,542 with the Mariners. 

Here is a look at the statue unveiling, complete with this dislodged bat.

The good news for everybody involved: The Mariners were able to fix the bat to its intended position, and they even had a good sense of humor about the whole thing.

Given how easy it was to fix, it's not that big of a deal. It's just not the way anybody intended the moment to go. It is also a fitting beginning for the statue, given the way the season has gone so far for the Mariners' bats.

Entering play on Friday, they are hitting just .184 as a team, the worst mark in Major League Baseball, while their 40 runs are the second-fewest in baseball, ahead of only the 39 scored by the Cincinnati Reds

The bats are just not cooperating this season. Both on the field and with the bronze statues of their all-time greats. 

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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