Statue of baseball player Ichiro Suzuki broken as it is unveiled in Seattle

The mishap occurred as a tarp was pulled off a bronze figure immortalising Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki.

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As a blue tarp was pulled off it, audience members could hear a snapping noise as the bronze figure it was shrouding suddenly appeared to drop in height. Suzuki, immortalised with a broken bat, was revealed.

Suzuki, 52, standing in front of his likeness outside T-Mobile Park, pointed incredulously at the bat before laughing.

The unveiling came a year after Suzuki was near-unanimously voted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, having spent 18 years playing in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the US.

After moving to the US from Japan, he spent 12 years at the Mariners, before joining the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. He would return to the Mariners for his final two seasons.