Japanese-born big-leaguer Ichiro Suzuki is one of the best hitters in baseball. Prior to 2012, he led the Major Leagues in regular season hits on seven occasions.

To state the obvious, you hit a baseball with a bat. Ichiro Suzuki seems to be more aware of that obvious fact than other baseball players, because he treats his bats as if they were Stradivarius violins.

Suzuki says, "In Japan we take care of our instruments, our bats and our gloves. We take care of them well, because these things are very important."

The Mizuno sports equipment company custom-makes Suzuki's bats for him by hand from Tamo wood grown on the Japanese island of Hokkaido. Suzuki doesn't throw his black bats in a canvas bag. Instead, he keeps eight bats in a custom-made suitcase that is shockproof and moisture-free. Inside the dehumidifying case with the bats are two bags of pellets that absorb moisture.

Suzuki cares for and respects his bats as though his life depended on them, and indeed his livelihood does depend on them.

In a much greater way, God tells us to take care of his Words, to have great respect for them. We are to honor his Words by reading them, meditating on them, memorizing them, discussing them with others, hearing them taught, and most important of all, believing them and obeying them. For God's Words are our life.

Editor’s Note: Since 2020, the year after he retired from MLB, Ichiro has been going from high school to high school in Japan, coaching young ballplayers on hitting and other aspects of the game. He's now an elder statesman, passing on the knowledge he gained during his 19-year MLB career. In 2023 he demonstrated that he still has a powerful bat. While showing players how he hits, Ichiro got a hold of a ball and sent it flying over the fence that separates the field from the school. It ended up breaking a window and flying into an unsuspecting math class.