Sayonara, Ichiro

Ichiro Suzuki, arguably Baseball's first Japanese superstar, has been traded from the Seattle Mariners, where he began his American baseball career, to the New York Yankees.  Ichiro, one of very few sports figures to go by his first name only, was signed by the M's whose fans were reeling from the departure of Alex Rodriguez in 2001.  Now he will be A-Rod's teammate. 
Icharo, was already a Japanese baseball star when he came to the M's, but fairly unknown in this country.  In his first year the M's won a whopping 116 games, until today, Ichiro was the last Mariner from that team to still be on the club.
It had become clear in recent years that his skills were diminishing and with his contract running out, Ichiro's future had become a hot topic in Seattle sports conversation.