Ichiro: 5'9

Ichiro is 5'11" 172 lbs. He's listed at 180 cm, that's 5'11" if you convert it.

I guess he listed himself smaller when he first came try to make pitchers think he's someone who's easy to pitch to, and they just never bothered to check how tall he really is.

On the other hand, look what American food has done to Nomo! He came to the U.S. ten years ago around 200 lbs, but has gained 35 lbs. My mother said "wow, Nomo looks fat" when I was watching a game around 2001-2002 (where he was around 235 already) and that was the first time she saw him on TV since 1997.

According to MLB.com, Ichiro Suzuki is listed at 5'9 and 170. A 2002 baseball card of mine listed Ichiro at 5'9 also. [MLB.com Profile]

For what it's worth, when I interviewed Ichiro in 2001, standing shoulder to shoulder with him for photos, I noted that he appeared to be my height, which is 5' 11", not 5'9". (He was wearing the same kind of ordinary steet shoes I was.) He said that the 5'9" listing was erroneous, that he was indeed 180 centimeters. One of his numerous handlers on the scene speculated that bad math was behind the error, which would have to be corrected. Also, for what it's worth, he didn't look like he weighed 175 pounds - more like 160-165. But it was at the end of a long season, so maybe he had lost a little weight. Who really knows?

My 1999 Orix game poster lists Ichiro at 180cm/70kg, which of course converts to 5'9"/155lbs. I have no idea why he or anyone would reduce the height listed since he was a rookie, though I've read this same odd (and, at times, rather acccusingly paranoid) claim quite often in the US press and blogs.

It seems like nonsense, is what I'm saying. And yet... I was at a "Fan-Fest" on the field with Ichiro in '97 with my son, and was rather startled when standing next to Ichiro to see how tall he seemed (I actually am 5'11"-plus). He was wearing spikes and a cap, but still he seemed much taller than I'd expected.

180 cm = 5'11", not 5'9".

How many centimetres is a inch anyways? I always thought it was 2.5, but I guess I'm wrong. 1 foot = 30 cm. 1 foot = 12 inches. 30 divided by 12 = 2.5. Am I right or am I right?

Time to go back to high school math and review a concept of "significant digits." Assuming 180cm is Ichiro's correct hight, let's convert this to inches via two methods: 2.5cm/inch (two significan digits) and 2.54cm/inch (three significant digits, and the more often used figure).

180 / 2.5 = 72 inches = 6 feet
180 / 2.54 = 70.8661417 inches = 5 feet 10.9 inches

Then, ask Google what 180cm in inches is: 70.8661417 inches (same as above).

As you can see, the more significant digits there are, the shorter he gets. Still, all of these come out closer to 5'11" than 5'9".

By the way, Google is great for metric conversions. Just enter "160kph in mph" (without the quotes) into Google's search box and it will do the conversion for you. It works for distances (heights), weights, speeds, volumes, temperatures, etc. My wife uses this for converting her U.S. recipies to metrics. Understanding the math behind the conversions is a Good Thing. But to get it in a hurry, Google knows all.

Hmm. I actually used Google, but clearly not properly. That explains the personal surprise on meeting him.