It’s judgement day and rewards are going to land one after the other for Ichiro Suzuki. The Japanese player who sensationalized pitching in MLB in his 10 years is one of the few pitchers who have played a total of 28 years as a pro player. Beginning with the Seattle Mariners, then went to play for several other teams and returned to the Seattle Mariners for one season in 2018. After gracing the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins as well, Suzuki made his last appearance as an MLB player in 2019 and then announced his retirement. Now, it’s time for Cooperstown.

With this massive news of him being inducted into the Hall of Fame, when the Baseball Writers’ Association reveals its ballots Tuesday night, congratulations will be pouring in. As Suzuki becomes the first Japanese player to go into the Hall of Fame, ESPN looked into the legend who had 3,089 major league hits (4,376) total and .311 career average, and the memorable 12 years in Seattle. And in looking into his story, they found a hilarious anecdote about his eating habits.

From being the first Japanese hitter in MLB to being “bigger than Elvis in Japan”, as former teammate John Olerud put it, Suzuki had a number of quirky traits as well. A year before he joined the team, a staff member brought in chef Jeremy Bryant in what was to be his 20-plus-year tenure with the Mariners beginning in 1999. And as Bryant spent the year learning Japanese cooking, Suzuki surprised him by unexpectedly requesting to the chef, “Do you have cheeseburger?”

Bryant, who had been expecting to only make Japanese food, suggested wings in the absence of a cheeseburger. And to his delight, his gues finally agreed! “Oh yeah, wings! Very good.” Bryant marinated the wings Mexican style with lime juice and garlic before adding teriyaki sauce, as he told ESPN. He jokingly called them his “signature Mexi-yaki wings.” After Ichiro’s Opening Day, he asked for the same wings again the next day, and for 10 years, every game at night, Ichiro had those wings.

For a decade, the Japanese player stuck to his routine, always eating the wings in the same chair and using the same plate. “Same time — 5:05 every day because he was the first one out of batting practice,” Bryant recalled. “He ate them in the same exact chair. He never sat in a different place in our little dining lounge. And he used the same plate.”

The wings were cooked in the same pan each time. However, on getaway days when the team was flying out, Ichiro’s preference shifted. “He wanted two corn dogs. Just two, and they had to be the basic, regular — I would get them at Costco, the frozen ones.” Despite the gourmet meals Bryant prepared, Ichiro’s go-to meal on those days was the simple corn dogs.

And he wasn’t the only Japanese one who famously had the same kind of food before games!

Munenori Kawasaki: A Character On and Off the Field

Blue Jays pitcher Munenori Kawasaki is not quite a master of the English language, but it’s the eccentric phrases and warm nature that have found him a place in fans’ hearts. His iconic phrase, “monkeys don’t cramp,” was part of an interview after a game in which he described how eating three bananas helped him deal with cramps.

“What can you eat to help you make you feel better?” the interviewer asked Kawasaki in a 2014 clip. “Bananas,” the player answers. Why? “Monkey never cramps,” because they eat two bananas everyday. How many had Kawasaki eaten that day, the interviewer asked. Three; a surefire way to avoid cramps indeed!

Whether it’s “Buffalo is very cold” or “I am fantastic every day,” Kawasaki’s interviews are full of humor and charm. His lighthearted attitude, combined with his iconic phrases like “What’s up, bro?” and “See you tomorrow,” make him a fan favorite. And athletes certainly take note of other athletes’ good eating habits!