Ken Griffey Jr. reveals the bizarre pregame routine he had with Ichiro
Ichiro Suzuki is hitting a blistering .349 this season and has moved to within 21 hits of 3,000 for his career in MLB. Most of those hits came with the Seattle Mariners where he collected 2,533 during his time with the team.
Prior to being traded to the Yankees in 2012, he spent two seasons with Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle. They were the final two seasons of Griffey's career, and it sounds like he spent it building a great relationship with Ichiro.
Griffey discussed his bond with the 10-time All-Star on the "Simms & Lefkoe Podcast," revealing his unique pregame routine. He would tickle Ichiro until he began to sweat prior to each game.
"My job was, I tickled him every day. And he would start sweating," Griffey said. "He'd be drenched by the time I stopped, and it'd be 30, 40 seconds that I'd be in there locked on him.
Griffey was asked if that was done just to make Ichiro more comfortable. His response: "Nah, I just did it."
Strangely enough, Ichiro never got to the point where he'd be looking over his shoulder, trying to spot Griffey before he started tickling him. It's pretty clear these two were close during their short time together in the bigs.
Ken Griffey Jr. reveals the special bond he had with Ichiro Suzukihttps://t.co/AohNW1ZNsx
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 16, 2016
