Ichiro Suzuki honored with collage showing 1st 3,000 hits

April 30, 2017 at 2:25 p.m. | Updated April 30, 2017 at 2:35 p.m.

by Associated Press

Miami Marlins' Ichiro Suzuki, center, shakes hands with club president David Samson, right, as Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, looks on during a pregame ceremony honoring Ichiro's 3,000th career hit before a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday, April 30, 2017, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)
Miami Marlins' Ichiro Suzuki, center, shakes hands with club president David Samson, right, as Michael Hill, president of baseball operations, looks on during a pregame ceremony honoring Ichiro's 3,000th career hit before a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Sunday, April 30, 2017, in Miami. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

MIAMI (AP) - The Miami Marlins have paid tribute to Ichiro Suzuki by giving him a collage of photographs showing each of his first 3,000 hits.

Suzuki reached the milestone last season and was honored before Sunday's game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The ceremony included Japanese home run king Sadaharu Oh offering congratulations in a scoreboard video, and Suzuki responded by bowing toward the scoreboard.

Suzuki originally was to have been honored late last season, but the ceremony was postponed following the death of Marlins ace Jose Fernandez.

The 43-year-old Japanese star spent his first 11½ seasons with Seattle before heading to the New York Yankees and Marlins. He is a career .312 hitter.

Marlins president David Samson says the collage is more than 8 feet wide and took months to assemble.

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