Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki doesn't believe in vacations.
The last time he took one was a week-long trip to Milan, Italy, in either 2004 or 2005, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. He worked out pretty much the entire time and said the excursion threw him out of sync for two or three weeks.
Never again, he vowed.
"That's the last time I took a vacation," Ichiro told Spencer.
Ichiro doesn't much care for down time, either. Every now and then, he'll take a day trip to Cooperstown, N.Y., to check out the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. A frequent visitor, he wallows in the history of the sport, knows it inside and out.
But that's about it.
His typical offseason -- if it can be called that -- hardly exists.
"Three or four days, tops," said his translator, Allen Turner.
Most players head home or travel the world to unwind the moment the season ends. But Ichiro is back in the cages, practicing his swing, within days after the last game.
"I'm telling you, there's nobody in the world that takes more swings over the course of a year than this guy," Turner said.
As he prepares for his 25th season in professional baseball -- the past 16 of them in the United States -- Ichiro, 43, is the oldest position player in the majors. Only Atlanta Braves pitcher Bartolo Colon (51 days his senior) is older among active players.
Despite his age, Ichiro is in supreme physical condition.
"Physically, unless you have some kind of injury, you don't really need a break," Ichiro said of his work ethic. "I think mentally you sometimes need a break. But for me, my body is built so that if I don't work out, that's when I put more stress on my body and get more tired."
There is no sign of quit in Ichiro, who said he wants to continue playing until he's 50.
"I'm not joking when I say it," Ichiro said. "Nobody knows what the future holds. But the way I feel, how I'm thinking, I feel like nothing can stop me from doing it."
Why rest now?
"When you retire from baseball, you have until the day you die to rest," he said.
And when the day finally comes to retire?
"I think I'll just die," he said.
But until then, Ichiro will continue to do what he's always done. While the Marlins had an off day scheduled Thursday, one last respite before the regular season starts Monday, Ichiro had no intention of using it to rest.
"I'll be here working out and doing what I usually do, working on the machines. I just love doing that," Ichiro said.
Be like Brady
Speaking of athletes who want to keep at it a while longer, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, who turns 40 in August, told owner Robert Kraft earlier this week that he'd be willing to play 6-7 more years.
"At the level he performed, there's no one that would be happier than I and our fanbase," Kraft said. "In some ways, you think about it, I think there's one player at the age of 40 who had one good year: [Brett] Favre for the [Minnesota] Vikings. But he didn't do so well before [turning 40]. I think Tommy's sustained excellence is just unbelievable, and it's a lifestyle. He's in training now. It's not like he's stopped. He works out. He's really dedicated.
"The thing that is amazing about him, to this day, he hasn't changed as a human being in terms of how he relates to people but also how he works out. The only thing that has probably changed is how he eats, how he diets. I'm not sure avocado ice cream is right for me, but if I could look like him and perform half as well, I guess I'd do it."
Sports on 03/31/2017