MIAMI _ The pregame ceremony Sunday was in recognition of the impressive round numbers _ Ichiro Suzuki, the 30th player with 3,000 hits in the major leagues.
What impresses Marlins manager Don Mattingly about his future Hall of Fame outfielder more than the numerical achievements is what he describes as the day to day aura of Ichiro.
"Just the way he prepares and what he's doing every day," Mattingly said. "Every day he's out there throwing, he's working, stretching. It's just an ongoing movement. It just never stops.
"Some guys get tired of it or get out of their routines. But his routine, he just seems to do it every day and is ready to go. It's just good to watch."
The Marlins had scheduled the celebration of Ichiro's 3,000th hit (a triple on Aug. 7 at Colorado) for last Sept. 25. That game was canceled due to the death of Jose Fernandez early that morning.
Prior to Sunday's game Ichiro was presented with a collage with photos from all 3,000 hits that was created by the Marlins Creative Services group. The artistic piece, covered with Plexiglas, is 8 { feet wide and 4 feet high and weighs between 200 and 300 pounds.
"It's the most emotional I've ever seen him," Marlins president David Samson said of Ichiro's reaction when the collage was unveiled. "When he looked at the magnitude of it and saw hits 1 through 3,000, I think it occurred to him how many hits that is.
"I thought the highlight of the whole ceremony was when he bowed to Mr. Oh. I think he began to understand the significance of his accomplishment _ how few players do it and how beloved he is across the world."
Samson said it took months to accumulate a photo for each hit. Japan's Kyodo News provided 2,704 photos, and others came from the Associated Press and Getty Images as well as the Mariners, Yankees and Marlins.
At 43 and in his third season as a reserve outfield with the Marlins, Ichiro went into Sunday ranked 25th on the MLB career list with 3,034 hits (not including the 1,278 he had in Japan). Rod Carew is next head of him with 3,053.
Ichiro is off to a slow start this season, hitting .148, mainly in a pinch-hitting role. But he retains the knack for the dramatic as he showed in Seattle when he hit a home run in his final at-bat on April 19 when he was honored by his former team with a double bobblehead commemorating his season-record of 262 hits with the Mariners in 2004 and his 3,000th hit with the Marlins.
Even though he has started only three games this season, Ichiro prepares each day as he did when he was in a fixture in the lineup with the Mariners, and before that in Japan.
Mattingly, known as a dedicated player during his own career, said he has never seen anyone as disciplined and devoted to the craft as Ichiro.
"There's been a few guys like him, but not to his level. I've seen (Wade) Boggs; he was disciplined in what he did every day. But not like this guy. This guy is a different level. It's amazing," Mattingly said, adding that it provides a valuable model for his team to emulate. "I think it is. I don't know if anybody can keep up with him.
"Any time you start doing something every day like that the way he does it and do it for the number of years ... it's a little testimony to his love for the game, I think. It tells you how much he loves playing. It's not just he loves stretching and throwing. He loves the game."
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