No question the 41-year-old Ichiro Suzuki has an air of "been there, done that" heading into his 15th year in Major League Baseball, but he's never felt the way he has about his new, young teammates in Miami.
"We've got a group of really good people here, maybe the best bunch I've ever been with," Ichiro said during a press conference at Marlins Park on Sunday, on the eve of the Marlins' season opener against the Atlanta Braves.
"Because of the age gap, they just seem adorable to me and I've never felt that way about my teammates before."
Ichiro was not in the lineup card announced by manager Mike Redmond on this day, which was pretty much expected given that Miami has what some believe is the best outfield in the majors with Giancarlo Stanton, Marcell Ozuna and Christian Yelich.
But Ichiro, who is 156 hits shy of a career 3,000 in the majors, has embraced the role of coming off the bench while mentoring the other players. The closest to Ichiro in age are fellow outfielder Michael Morse and first baseman Jeff Baker at 33.