The Seattle Mariners now have a third statue outside of T-Mobile Park, with a new one of Ichiro Suzuki unveiled ahead of Friday’s series opener against the Houston Astros.

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The reveal didn’t quite go as planned, as Ichiro’s bat was bent in an odd direction when a shroud was removed to reveal the statue, which occurred just a bit up the street from the statue of fellow Hall of Fame hitter Edgar Martinez. You can see it in the photo gallery at the top of this post.

But fear not, as the initial bat problem was quickly remedied, with the bat turned upright and reconnected at the handle to show Ichiro’s iconic pose while awaiting an offering from an opposing pitcher.

Ichiro showed a sense of humor about the bent bat, jokingly blaming it on former Yankees star closer Mariano Rivera, who was famous for breaking bats with his cutter (a pitch that Ichiro memorably got the better of one time in particular).

“I didn’t think Mariano would come out here,” he said with a smile, “and break the bat.”

The way a jovial Ichiro saw it, his statue having an imperfection was only fitting.

“In the Hall of Fame, I was short one vote,” he said. “Today, the bat was broke. It kind of lets me know that I’m still not there, that I still need to keep going. So, this is a good example of that.”

The first 40,000 fans at the Mariners’ game Friday night against Houston will receive a replica of the Ichiro statue, which allowed the Mariners the opportunity to have a laugh about the situation themselves.

Breaking: We’ve updated tonight’s Ichiro Replica Statue giveaway. pic.twitter.com/EcFfkaAUd6

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 10, 2026

This isn’t the first time a Mariners statue has had a bat-related problem. The statue of Ken Griffey Jr., which is situated on the corner of Edgar Martinez Drive and Dave Niehaus Way, once had its bat stolen in 2017.

Speaking of Griffey, he was in attendance for the unveiling of Ichiro’s statue, as was captured by Seattle Sports’ Mike Lefko.

Griffey approved pic.twitter.com/zNXq4Df0rr

— Mike Lefko (@MikeLefko) April 10, 2026

Mariners Radio Network coverage of Friday’s game begins on Seattle Sports 710 AM and the Seattle Sports app with the pregame show at 5:30 p.m, with first pitch set for 6:40.

This post includes contributions from The Associated Press.

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