Ichiro Suzuki, 50, smashes school window with towering home run

Ichiro Suzuki was a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, won two batting titles and was the 2001 Rookie of the Year and MVP in his debut season with the Mariners. Photograph: Ted S Warren/AP

Ichiro Suzuki doesn’t appear to have lost a step after turning 50.

The Japanese baseball great made headlines over the weekend during a coaching session with young ballplayers at Asahikawa Higashi High School in Hokkaido, Japan, where he belted a home run that cleared the 26ft high netting that protects the school building, smashing a window and landing in a classroom where a math lesson was taking place.

#イチロー さん(50)
フリー打撃で校舎の窓ガラスを破壊 pic.twitter.com/gI3SHp2SEm

— 猫輔🍁 (@NekoSuke5_5) November 6, 2023

Ichiro, who celebrated his 50th birthday in October, has been offering instruction to Japanese high school teams outside his primary job with the Seattle Mariners as special assistant to the chairman, where he works as an instructor with the major league and Triple-A teams.

Ichiro spent parts of 14 seasons with the Mariners before retiring in 2019 after Seattle opened the season with games in Japan. He was a 10-time All-Star, 10-time Gold Glove winner, won two batting titles and was the 2001 Rookie of the Year and MVP in his debut season with the Mariners.

He finished with 4,367 hits in his professional career across Japan and the United States, the most of any player in history at the top level of baseball.

Ichiro also played for the New York Yankees and Miami. He will be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2025.