This week, Suzuki returned to his hometown of Tokyo, representing the Cubs in his fourth MLB season. “My goal is to stay in this league and play for as long as I can, until my body stops working,” Suzuki said. “Here [in MLB] it’s so hard with age, but also, whenever your performance drops, there’s always that next guy up.”

The Chicago Cubs are in Japan getting ready to open the regular season against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday at the Tokyo Dome. The Cubs will play two games and then head back to the United States to resume spring training before their “domestic” opening day against the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 27.