Ichiro Suzuki's legendary career may be over after 27 seasons

An international baseball legend is calling it a career ... maybe.

After 27 seasons as a professional baseball player -- the last 18 in Major League Baseball -- Ichiro Suzuki is taking a front-office position with the Seattle Mariners. The 44-year-old had played in 15 games this season -- collecting nine hits -- in a return to the team he began his MLB career with back in 2001. Before that he was a star in Japan with the Orix Blue Wave for nine seasons beginning as an 18-year-old in 1992.

"With Ichiro's track record of success, his personality, his unique perspective and his work ethic, he is singularly positioned to impact both our younger players and the veterans in the clubhouse," Seattle GM Jerry Dipoto told ESPN. "We really don't want him to change anything that he's doing right now, with the exception that he will not be playing in games."

Meanwhile, Suzuki's agent says he's not retiring.

“He doesn’t plan on retiring,’’ John Boggs, his agent, told USA TODAY Sports. “He’s morphing into the role. He’ll still be traveling with the team, work out with the team every day, but he just isn’t going to be allowed to play.

“He in no way has decided to retire.’’

Suzuki has been a legendary hitter in MLB since arriving back in 2001 when he was both the American League MVP, its batting champ and its Rookie of the Year. Since then he recorded 3,089 career hits -- 22nd on the career list -- while hitting .311 and collecting 10 Gold Gloves and 10 All-Star appearances with the Mariners, Yankees and Marlins. For his entire career, he has 4,523 hits -- a world mark that's, in a word, impressive.

Even if you're a deep-pocketed collector, chasing his cardboard isn't easy. He's been in high demand since his legendary Rookie of the Year/MVP season and there's plenty of cardboard from that year alone. There's also been plenty since. And there are also plenty of collectors from around the world who are watching his cardboard just as intently now as his playing career is possibly over.

Overall, he has more than 12,500 different baseball cards but fewer than 1,000 certified autographs. He's had a lot more in recent years with signings for Leaf Trading Cards, Panini America and Topps where he has signed since 2015.

And it's the Rookie Cards where the challenge comes in. What do you collect? Between Upper Deck, Topps, Fleer and Donruss, he has 49 different RCs from 2001 -- and countless other insert cards from that year to complicate matters. His 2001 SPx (above) is legendary as one of only two autographed RCs, while just 250 copies of his other RC auto, 2001 Ultimate Collection, exist.

Most collectors can't swing one of those -- even if they could find one -- so a staple like 2001 Topps is perhaps a favorite, but there are plenty of options (and many of them are affordable) from that year.

The future Hall of Famer's Japanese RCs from 1993 are much simpler, traditional cardboard and they can be had for pricey but not impossible prices. He has three RCs from that year -- BBM (top), Takara and Tomy. The BBM is probably the easiest to land (heck, Buzz even owns one as a BGS 9) and the most-traditional-looking of the bunch. Your best bet is to buy one graded because fakes could exist given his high-profile status and somewhat general unfamiliarity with those brands here in the United States.

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