Had Michael Jordan known that Ichiro Suzuki would go down as arguably the greatest hitter in baseball history, he probably would have signed the legend to a Jordan Brand deal when he arrived in the United States in 2001. In fact, the two first met in 1995, when a 22-year old Ichiro had the chance to go face-to-face with Jordan following a Chicago Bulls practice. The relationship between the two men never developed professionally on a public level, but that doesn't mean ideas weren't being floated around behind the scenes.
Covering the latest issue of Japan's Shoes Master magazine is an extremely rare Air Jordan 1 sample, styled after Ichiro's time as a member of the Seattle Mariners. The teal and black make-up his highlighted by a silhouette of Ichiro's unique batting stance. The pair never made it to production and details on its origin have yet to be revealed.
More will likely be explained in the Shoes Master Vol. 28, which can be pre-ordered at Amazon Japan.