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The great ones may make it look easy, Piniella said. But its not easy. Ichiro works very hard. Very hard on his conditioning and strength programs and stretching, and very hard on his hitting. You see a guy go out there and spray the ball around and people say, Hes a natural. Well, there may be some natural talent there, but he works on his art.

Piniella wasnt telling me anything I didnt already know. Ive written a couple of long Ichiro stories for The Magazine now and Ive studied the mans regimen. Its incredible. From his pregame reflexology routine, to his non-stop stretching, to his methodical BP, Ichiro is meticulous in the way he prepares to play a game. In fact, in this latest story, when I asked Ichiro if he could go through his checklist, he scoffed (through his translator, Hide Sueyoshi). There are too many details to go through them all.

But Piniella did surprise me with a few things he had to say about Ichiro, such as, Hes the best defensive rightfielder Ive ever seen. Yes, that list would include the likes of Dwight Evans, Dave Parker and even the late, great Roberto Clemente.

But that was something we were certain of when we signed him, Piniella said. Because wed had him work out with us in spring training. But he has shown us more than we thought he would in other aspects of the game.

First of all, hes faster than we thought Hes the fastest from home to first in our league, and that puts tremendous pressure on the infielders. If they have to go one way or another for a ball, theyve got to make a heck of a play to get him.

And hes a better hitter than we thought. When hes hitting well, he can almost hit the ball anywhere he wants on the field.

But wouldnt that -- this idea that Ichiro can place the ball -- suggest that Ichiro sees the game more clearly than hitters who are merely trying to hit the ball hard?

No, Piniella said. I think its just another sign of how hard he works. Ive never asked him, but Id bet when Ichiros driving to the ballpark each day, hes going through his game plan for that night, thinking his at-bats through before he even gets here.

And its that intense focus, according to Piniella, that makes it appear that Ichiro slows the game down. Im telling you, the scrutiny, pressure, attention he got last year, and continues to get this year, is unprecedented, Piniella said. I know theres been the Barry Bonds Watch and the Mark McGwire Watch, but this is different. This is a guy who came over from Japan to prove to his country what he could do, and it was all chronicled every day by hundreds of Japanese media. It wouldve beaten up lesser men.

"This spring, he hit a home run in his first spring training game and the Japanese media came into my office and said, Ichiro is going to hit 30 home runs this year. I had to dispel that real quick. I know he looks so natural, so fluid, so graceful that it looks that easy. I promise its not.