Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he’s much more than that in Japan. Back home, he’s a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan’s economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.

It’s been an eventful year for Hideki Matsuyama thus far and we’re only 1.25 tournaments in. After a red-hot 35 under at The Sentry—featuring a PGA Tour-record, 33 birdies—Matsuyama has kept things interesting at the Sony Open … especially for the fans.

Hideki Matsuyama narrowly avoided disaster during the first round of the Sony Open when his driver flew out of his hands toward some fans.

Considering the horrified reaction to the tee shot, you might be surprised to learn that Matsuyama actually birdied this hole, which goes to show that it doesn't matter what your swing looks like as long as you make solid contact. And while holding a pose looks cool, it doesn't ensure the ball lands in the fairway.

Yankees legend Hideki Matsui played seven seasons for the Yankees. It wasn’t until his final one, in 2009, with the addition of lefty ace CC Sabathia, that he managed to get that elusive World Series ring.

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he's much more than that in Japan. Back home, he's a wellspring of national pride.

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he's much more than that in Japan. “He healed the wounds in Japan’s national psyche,” Kiyoteru Tsutsui, professor of sociology at Stanford University, told The Associated Press.

Hoping to become a two-way player in Major League Baseball just like Shohei Ohtani, 18-year-old Shotaro Morii made the rare decision to bypass Japanese professional baseball entirely and agreed to a minor league contract with the Athletics that includes a signing bonus of $1,

Expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Cooperstown on Tuesday, Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride and his fame across the Pacific when he joined MLB was therapeutic for his

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he is much more than that at home in Japan. Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride — like Shohei Ohtani now —

Ichiro Suzuki is expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and possibly only the second player chosen unanimously after New York

He hit 45 home runs in three seasons while also pitching at Tokyo's TOHO Junior and Senior ... Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui, Yu Darvish and others in MLB helped him make his decision, Morii ...