| | | None of his contemporaries -- in either Japan or the major leagues -- have been able to solve slap-hitting phenom Ichiro Suzuki.
So, Page 2 is taking another ride in the "way-back machine" to try to find a pitcher who can overwhelm the Seattle Mariners rookie outfielder.
We've summoned Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Sandy Koufax from the bullpen -- and we've asked you to decide who would get the better of this "When Worlds Collide" matchup.
We received more than 400 responses, and below are the two favorites of Page 2's editors. After checking them out, be sure to vote in the poll at left.
|  | | Arm trouble won't bother an immortal Sandy Koufax against Ichiro Suzuki. |
"Now batttttting ..." wails the voice of James Earl Jones through the endless fields of corn in the outfield, ... Ichirrrrrroo .. ."
The sold-out crowd of 24 fans, family members and faltering actors awaits in anticipation of a last name. They are left, instead, with a deafening silence.
Ichiro steps up to the plate and looks toward centerfield. The sun is setting and the corn is ripe, yet there is something that seems not right.
"There is no pitcher," Ichiro says suspiciously, through an interpreter. Suddenly, he hears a rustling in the corn. The voice of Jones speaks again: "Now pitching ... Sannnnnndy Sannnnford Koufax ..."
Three pitchforks drop in the sellout crowd of 24, one after another. By this time, Koufax has fully appeared from the corn and has taken his spot on the mound. Ichiro is waiting.
"Don't I get time to warm up?" Koufax asks the umpire.
"No can do," the man in blue fires back. "You are immortal, I will hear nothing of it." Koufax bows his head and starts spinning his left arm in gargantuan circles in an attempt to get his blood flowing.
To match this, Ichiro begins waving his bat in his trademark forward circle, all the while staring down the pitcher with what has become known as "The Glare."
Sandy appears ready. He stretches. He kicks his leg way back and fires. Ichiro drills a ground ball down the line past first ... just foul. The umpire holds up his right fist and a left index finger. The next pitch ... foul, this time just outside third. Oh and 2. Ichiro is in a hole. Four more pitches. Foul, foul, foul and foul.
|  | | Against Koufax, Ichiro might have to consider a rare walk. |
Sandy wipes the perspiration off his face, looks to first out of habit, and fires the pitch home, right down the middle. Ichiro starts running to first without even taking a swing! By the time the ball reaches the plate, it appears so incredibly outside that the umpire has no choice but to call it a ball. Ichiro continues the strategy for the next 2 pitches, advancing the count to 3 and 2.
"What, what shall I do?" Koufax ponders. "This guy is unstoppable."
Meanwhile, at the plate, Ichiro is having some questions of his own. "He certainly is good," he thinks, through an interpreter. "And I hate to walk. But there may be no other way to win this ..."
The great pitcher winds up, spins, and launches the ball 30 feet to the left of home plate! It whizzes right behind Ichiro on his sprint to first, knee height.
"Steeeeeerike three!" yells the umpire. Jaws drop. No one moves. Something historical has just occurred: Mighty Ichiro has struck out.
Justin Cutter
Bothell, Wash.
|  | | Koufax would be just a blur to the M's, until Ichiro steps up to the plate. |
After a coin flip that ends up with the quarter standing on it's edge, the two major-leaguers decide to split the difference and hold the game in Hawaii.
Underneath the bright Honolulu moon, both teams converge to answer the question at hand. The fans range from Brooklynites still suffering from post-partum Dodger depression to Tokyo teenie boppers hoping to catch more than a glimpse of Ichiro.
Koufax starts the game slowly, giving up a hard liner to the outfield and a couple of shots that would have been base hits if not for the speediness of Maury Wills, keeping the Mariners hitless through the second.
But Koufax regains form, striking out the side in the third, fourth and fifth innings, seeming to get stronger as the game moves on. He takes a perfect game all the way to the ninth, showing no signs of slowing down.
Manager Lou Piniella calls on his secret weapon, Ichiro Suzuki, whom he was resting with a sore thumb. Ichiro steps out of the dugout. A Brooklyn native, with a few in his tank, shouts, "Thumb injury? Sandy would've played with a broken back, you big baby!"
Ichiro is in the comforting position of not knowing English. He steps to the plate. Sandy and Ichiro stare down each other, both as confident as ever.
Then it comes like a lightning storm. Thousands of cameras flash their bulbs to catch the historic moment from the media and fans, as if the stadium had become a giant sparkler to light up all of Honolulu.
|  | | Ichiro's speed could give him a slight edge in a battle against Koufax. |
Ichiro, used to this mania, doesn't even seem to notice. Koufax, however, is distracted, stepping off the mound to compose himself. He steps back up to throw a hard strike, perfectly placed. Oh and-1. His second pitch, a sweeping curveball, baits Ichiro into an unpromising swing. Oh-and-2.
"You wimp!" the Brooklyn fan shouts at Ichiro, who looks his way and gives him a nod of appreciation. As Ichiro steps back into the box, Koufax sends another sweeping curve that drops like a lead weight, but Ichiro gets a piece of it, sends it dribbling slowly towards Will, who speeds to the ball, grabbing it and whipping it at first.
Ichiro races down the line in a blur, beating the throw by half a step.
"Safe!" the ump yells. The fans erupt. With his perfect game broken up, Koufax strikes out Edgar Martinez to take the 1-0 win. He will later blame the Ichiro hit on the distraction from all of the media and cameras.
Ichiro will thank the '65 Dodgers for the opportunity and state that Koufax was the toughest pitcher he has ever faced.
Curtis Marquardt
Hanover Park, Ill.
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