CATCHING A WAVE

Superstar ICHIRO SUZUKI sparked the RISING TIDE of SPORTS CARD HOBBY in Japan

BY MATT BOSCH

As the back of Mr. Suzuki’s 1997 Calbee baseball card says, Ichiro is “a superstar who needs no introduction.” “He was like Michael Jackson over there,” said Willie Fraser, who teamed with Ichiro in Japan on the Orix BlueWave from 1996-98. “We would come off the bus on the road and if he got too close to the ropes—these haphazard ropes put between the fans and us walking off the bus—they would grab him and pull him into the crowd. “We had to go and get him a couple of times,” Fraser said, adding that Ichiro interacted well with fans and in most regards fans were “ultra-polite.” The BlueWave was a thrilling and fascinating team that featured not only Ichiro but future major leaguers Shigetoshi Hasegawa and So Taguchi. The…

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Sports Collectors Digest (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 1, 2025

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