Why does Ichiro Suzuki have his first name on the back of his jersey?

[Brandon T]

I think he may be the only pro baseball player to have his first name instead of his last name on the back.

 

[Anon]

Because he drives a Toyota. =)

 

[B-Easy]

Probably b/c there are a million Suzukis in Japan, so they have to have their first names to tell them apart. So he took that mentality into the US.

To me, in Japan, everyone looks the same. Now add "Suzuki" to the backs of their jerseys, and you have a whole team of identical looking players with Suzuki on their backs....WTF

 

[starkiller1014]

Matt is correct. Asian players do this. In the NBA, Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi display "Yao" and "Wang" on their jerseys. It may seem strange to us but that's normal for them.

 

[Gage L]

Maybe because he is so used to being called Ichiro so he put it on his jersey