If you were fortunate (and talented) enough to be named a member of the American League All-Star team in 1997, or any year from 1999-2002, or 2004, then you were also fortunate enough to play for one of the greatest skippers that Major League Baseball has ever seen: Joe Torre. With six pennants and four World Series rings in the eight-year span from 1996 to 2003, Torre was a no-brainer to manage the team in at least a few of those years while he was leading such a powerhouse team to success again and again, and many AL players who weren't with organizations as good as those Yankees were able to play under Torre's watchful eye for a day, all thanks to the Midsummer Classic. It must have been the experience of a lifetime to listen to his thoughts prior to the festivities, to hear one of the baseball's wisest legends bestowing wisdom to the brightest stars that the game had to offer.
Except for 2002, that is. Because though Torre did his thing that year, like every other year, his speech was one-upped just a tad by one of that season's American League All-Stars: Ichiro Suzuki. The whole story was retold by a cast of characters thanks to the work of Corey Brock, Rustin Dodd and Jayson Jenks:
CC Sabathia, Yankees teammate: Ichi gave the best speeches at the All-Star Game.
Randy Winn, Mariners teammate: This is 2002. I’m at the All-Star Game and Joe Torre is the manager. Joe brings us all in and says something very nice, very professional, very Joe Torre, very even and monotone.
Mike Sweeney, Royals first baseman and Mariners teammate: You could hear a pin drop as Joe Torre’s speaking to us.
Winn: After he finishes, he goes, “All right, Ichiro, what do you have to say?” I was like, “Wow, why is he calling Ichiro? Of all people to say something …”
Jim Leyland, Tigers manager: All of the sudden he pops up: “Let’s kick their f---ing fat asses.”
Michael Young, Rangers second baseman: As loud as he could.
A.J. Pierzynski, Twins catcher: And that was it.
It was then that it became an "unwritten rule," according to Sweeney, that Ichiro would have the last word in these All-Star Game speeches, and Young said that it was the same line every single year: "Let's go kick their f---ing fat asses." If that doesn't fire you up — or make you double over in laughter in the moment, especially after a passionate, thoughtful speech from someone with Torre's reputation — then I don't know what to tell you.
Considering Ichiro was a ten-time All-Star, earning a spot in each year from 2001 to 2010, a whole lot of teammates were able to witness the legend that was Ichiro's closing statement, and the story now lives on. Perhaps it bolstered not only the spirits and play of his teammates but his own, too; he is one of only 29 players in league history with at least eight hits in All-Star competition, putting him in the company of mostly Hall of Fame icons (via Stathead). None was as memorable — or as good an example of "kicking their f---ing fat asses" — than the feat he achieved in 2007.
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