Ichiro Suzuki celebrates another historic first after decades in baseball

Years before he would make his entrance into Major League Baseball, Japanese outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, then 22, made a trip stateside. Sporting a “Tom and Jerry" sweater and a giant grin, he met with NBA legend Michael Jordan in Chicago and sat in on the Bulls' practice. Jordan’s work ethic that day, Suzuki said, remains unforgettable.

“I just saw how serious Jordan was and how he was the guy who was doing it on his own and I saw the other guys following,” Suzuki recalled to NBC Asian America, speaking through longtime translator Allen Turner. "That really had an impact on me."

He didn’t know it then, but the visit would eventually be seen as a meeting between two American sports legends.