Cubs star Seiya Suzuki’s custom glove has a hilarious engraved message
While Seiya Suzuki means strictly business on the field for the Chicago Cubs, he still brings a piece of his vibrant clubhouse personality with him on game days.
For Suzuki, that slice is his custom glove, engraved with a special message that Marquee Sports Network’s Elise Menaker revealed during the Cubs’ matchup with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday afternoon.
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“I was scrolling through social media and I saw that there is Japanese writing on (Suzuki’s) glove,” Menaker told Jim Deshaies and Jon Sciambi.
Engraved on Suzuki’s glove are two phrases, one in silver and one in gold.
Menaker asked Suzuki before the game what they meant, and he told her the hilarious truth: One phrase says “Absolutely catch it” while the other reads “If you make another error, you’ll be fired.”
Suzuki told Menaker that the three errors he made in the outfield last year were the catalysts for the equipment that he’s sporting this season.
“Over the course of a long season, in certain moments you’re not locked in, and that one moment can make or break a play,” Menaker said, repeating what Suzuki told her.
In a way, Suzuki did receive a demotion at the beginning of the season. He surrendered his right field post to accommodate Kyle Tucker’s arrival, and the Japanese slugger moved to designated hitter full-time.
Though it was initially reported in the offseason that Suzuki wasn’t thrilled with the move, he’s found himself in a groove that’s seen some of the best power-hitting of his career. The 30-year-old’s 17 home runs through 66 games are already threatening his total of 21 last year, which was a career-high.
However, the inevitable injuries that pop up over the grueling MLB season have taken a toll on a few different Cubs, and Suzuki has been right there to fill in where he’s needed. He’s played 11 games in left field, most of them coming when Ian Happ hit the injured list in May with an oblique strain. He’s also stepped back into his typical position in right for 10 games to help get Tucker off his feet, which was the case Friday.
While Deshaies and Sciambi joked that Suzuki should “keep it positive” in hyping himself up, so far it seems Suzuki’s mantra is working – he has a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage this season.
