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At the tender age of 19, Ichiro Suzuki broke into baseball with the Orix Blue Wave in 1992 and from that season and his subsequent campaign in 1993, one might assume that his career in baseball would be short lived. In those two years combined, he had just 36 hits over the course of 83 games. Thankfully, the Orix team gave Ichiro another shot - they saw something in him. In 1994 with the Blue Wave, his first full season of professional baseball, Ichiro hit .385 and it the rest is history.

This lot finds us at the end of his third consecutive MVP year as a member of the Orix, just after capturing the Japan Series Title against the Yomiuri Giants. Shane Mack, of the Giants, received this signed Mizuno game model bat of Ichiro's on November 2nd, 1996 - just a short time after the Blue Wave downed the Yomiuri team 4 games to 1 for the title.

Ichiro game used items are difficult to obtain and in particular, pieces from his time in Japan are incredibly scarce and almost never come up for sale. This Mizuno game model bat is in excellent, unused condition, and has been signed "To Shane Your Friend Ichiro 51" and dated 1996.11.2. The bat has all the appropriate markings included a stamping on knob, "b B51." Just a handful of Ichiro game bats from his playing time have surfaced at auction, let alone one which has been autographed to a former MLB player. The bat measures 33.5" and weighs 33oz.

As with all the items from our Shane Mack Find, this piece is 100% authentic and was part of Mack's personal collection of items.

This lot comes from the 'Shane Mack Find.' This collection of items consist of autographs, game used equipment and other related memorabilia that was personally owned by former major league outfielder, Shane Mack. This collection of items in our Spring 2012 auction features an array of pieces spanning from his rookie year in 1987, through the end of his career in 1998 with the Kansas City Royals. Included in this fantastic collection of sports memorabilia are items from Mack's time in Japan, c.1995-1996, while playing with the Yomiuri Giants. All these items were personally owned by Shane Mack. Each item is absolutely guaranteed to be authentic for life.