In Japan, people with Type O are commonly referred to as warriors because they are said to be self-confident, outgoing, goal-oriented and passionate. According to Masahiko Nomi, a Japanese journalist who helped popularize blood typology with a best-selling book in 1971, people with Type O make the best bankers, politicians and — if you are not yet convinced — professional baseball players.

But there are exceptions to any categorization, and in this instance one of them would appear to be Ichiro Suzuki of the Mariners, who has become one of the great hitters in major league baseball since joining the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Suzuki is Type B.

“That makes sense in a way,” said Jennifer Robertson, a professor of anthropology at the University of Michigan who specializes in Japanese culture and history. Robertson added that people with Type B, known as hunters, are said to be highly independent and creative.

And creative would be a good adjective to describe Suzuki at the plate, where he sprays the ball to all fields and sometimes seems to hit the ball to an exact spot. Suzuki set the major league record for hits in a season with 262 in 2004.

“Even in Japan, Ichiro was kind of a maverick baseball player in the sense of being very philosophical and very meticulous,” Robertson said. “People with Type B are individuals and they find their own way in life.”

For the record, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Sadahara Oh, Hideki Matsui, Tadahito Iguchi, and Kei Igawa are all Type Os. That means the first Type B vs. Type O battle for the Mariners will happen on April 10th, when the team visits Boston.