The world of baseball collectively sobbed early Thursday morning as Ichiro Suzuki walked off the field to a standing ovation at the Tokyo Dome in the Opening Series.
Ichiro stood in right field and waved to the crowd before leaving the game in the eighth inning. News had spread during the game that he was going to announce his retirement after the contest ended.
Ichiro received hugs from his teammates, including Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr., once he reached the dugout. But no one appeared to be more torn up over Ichiro's departure than his new teammate Yusei Kikucki.