Ramon Santiago, the veteran shortstop of the Cincinnati Reds, recalls being startled and amused during his first encounter with Ichiro Suzuki in 2003. Santiago was barely into his first full season with Detroit when Ichiro's Mariners came to town. After a leadoff single to open the game, Ichiro dashed to second on a steal. As he popped up safely from his slide, he looked at Santiago and deadpanned in Spanish, "No corro casi."

Loosely translated, he was telling Santiago, a native of the Dominican Republic, "I don't have my legs today." Before Santiago could stop smiling, Ichiro was stealing third two pitches later on those same heavy legs.

"I knew he always spoke through an interpreter," Santiago said recently. "And that was for English, so of course I never imagined he could speak such nice Spanish."

Shattering hitting records on both sides of the Pacific has earned Ichiro, the 40-year-old Yankees outfielder, an international fan base, as much on the field as in the stands. But his often sharp use of Spanish between the lines has garnered him special esteem with the league's Latin community.

Watch closely during a game, and an entertaining scene is likely to unfold when an opposing Latin infielder goes out of his way to engage Ichiro on the base paths for some good-natured ribbing, or, in the case of some players, the chance to ask for a keepsake. (Toronto's Maicer Izturis said he has a signed ball; Detroit's Victor Martinez has a signed photo; and Washington's Asdrubal Cabrera has a bat—or he did until he splintered it in a game.)