Our online bookstore is now closed for the holidays. Click on any book to find it at your local bookstore or library.

“In Japanese baseball culture, preparation is key. There are some who believe that the more strenuous the training, the better. ‘The purpose of training,’ wrote Suisha Tobita, ‘is the forging of the soul. If the players do not try so hard as to vomit blood in practice, they cannot hope to win games. One must suffer to be good.’ Ichiro’s father agreed, and gave his son a glove when the boy was three. Daily workouts began when he was in the third grade. When the elder Suzuki handed his son off to high school coaches, he instructed them to be tough. ‘No matter how good Ichiro is, don’t ever praise him,’ he said. ‘We have to make him spiritually strong.’ The father-son relationship, Ichiro has said, ‘bordered on hazing.’ ‘Child abuse’ is another term he’s used. The son eventually cast off the father, and now the two do not speak.” 

–Excerpted from The Only Way is the Steady Way: Essays on Baseball, Ichiro, and How We Watch the Game by Andrew Forbes. Published by Invisible Publishing. invisiblepublishing.com