SEATTLE — A bronze statue of Ichiro Suzuki was unveiled outside T-Mobile Park in Seattle on April 10, 2026, but the ceremony took an unexpected turn when the statue's bat snapped near the handle, causing the barrel to veer off to the right. The statue was the third in franchise history to be placed outside the ballpark.

Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Suzuki jointly removed a tarp covering the statue, with the silhouette of the bat visible beneath the covering before it was pulled away. John Stanton also participated in the unveiling alongside Griffey and Martinez. Fans stood behind a red rope during the ceremony, surrounding the statue with their phones in the air, as the Mariners livestreamed the event.

When the bat broke, Suzuki laughed, and Griffey appeared to laugh as well. The Mariners quickly fixed the statue by turning the bat upright and reconnecting it at the handle.

"It kind of lets me know that I'm still not there, that I still need to keep going. So, this is a good example of that." Suzuki said of the broken bat.

The team posted on X, "Breaking: We've updated tonight's Ichiro Replica Statue giveaway." along with an image showing the replica statue with a broken bat. The Mariners gave away replica statues to the first 40,000 fans at the game.

The statue, which commemorates Suzuki's batting stance, was first announced in January 2025, according to MLB. Suzuki, now 52, was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2025, becoming the first Japanese-born player to receive the honor. He earned 393 out of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers' Association of America, capturing 99.7 percent of the ballot. His number 51 was retired during a pregame ceremony in August 2025, and he had been honored in the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2022.

Suzuki played for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees, and Miami Marlins during a career spanning more than 2,600 games. He compiled a .311 batting average with 117 home runs and holds the MLB single-season hits record with 262 hits in 2004, according to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. In 2001, he was named both Rookie of the Year and American League MVP, becoming the second player in MLB history to win both awards in the same year, according to the Hall of Fame. He occasionally wears the Mariners uniform and works out with the team.