Ichiro reaches 200 hits for record 10th consecutive season

[SP33Demon]

TORONTO -- Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki became the first player with 10 straight 200-hit seasons Thursday, breaking his record with a single to center in the fifth inning of the Mariners' game against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Suzuki, whose 200 hits are the most in the majors, closed in on the mark with a two-out double to left off Blue Jays right-hander Shawn Hill in the third.

He wasted no time in setting the record, lining a single up the middle on the first pitch he saw from Hill in the fifth.

His teammates came to the top step of the dugout to applaud and Suzuki tipped his cap as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.

Suzuki surpassed Willie Keeler with his ninth consecutive 200-hit season last year. Keeler's streak ran from 1894 to 1901.

Suzuki now has more 200-hit seasons than any player in AL history, breaking the record he shared with Detroit's Ty Cobb. Pete Rose is the only other player to record 10 seasons with 200 or more hits.

Suzuki has led the majors in hits in each of the past four seasons, and six times in his 10-year career.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=5607807

The man is a true Japanese machine: he's also led the league in at bats in 6 of the past 10 years which shows his reliability/durability. Add that to his 9 straight Gold Gloves (he should win it again this year) and you are looking at history that will never happen again.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

The man is a true Japanese machine: he's also lead the league in at bats in 6 of the past 10 years which shows his reliability/durability. Add that to his 9 straight Gold Gloves (he should win it again this year) and you are looking at history that will never happen again.

Or it shows he doesn't know how to take a walk.

Anyway - Japan, f' yeah!

 

[SSUSeaWolf]

Who's that?

 

[soulcougher73]

He is a hitting machine. :thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[KeithTalent]

My favourite player! Amazing. A shame he was not playing in the US his entire career so he could challenge Pete Rose's all-time hit record. Hopefully he at least takes the all-time 200 hit seasons record from him next season.

KT

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Who's that?

Popular Japanese import.

 

[nboy22]

He came to my work and did some motion capture for Nintendo.. I was so bummed because even though he was in the same building as me, I didn't get to meet him. I was the only person there who knew who he was and he's my favorite player, but the contracts we had with Nintendo stated that no one could talk to him unless he initiated the conversation.

 

[SP33Demon]

Who's that?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichiro

Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō?), often known simply as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō?), nicknamed "Ichi" & "The Hits Man", (born October 22, 1973, in Kasugai, Nishikasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan) is a Major League Baseball right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including the sport's single-season record for base hits with 262. He has had ten consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player, surpassing Wee Willie Keeler's streak of eight.[1] Pete Rose, who had ten non-consecutive 200-hit seasons, is the only player with the same amount as Ichiro.

Ichiro moved to the United States in 2001 after playing nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League. Posted by Orix after the 2000 season, Ichiro became Seattle's right fielder. The second Japanese-born everyday position player in the major leagues,[2] Ichiro led the AL in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named Rookie of the Year and MVP.

Ichiro is the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (The Golden Players Club). He has been voted onto nine All-Star teams by the fans, winning the 2007 All-Star MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run. Ichiro has won a Gold Glove award in each of his first nine years in the major leagues, and has had six hitting streaks of 20 or more games, with a high of 27.

Ichiro's agent Tony Attanasio described his client's status: "When you mail Ichiro something from the States, you only have to use that name on the address and he gets it [in Japan]. He's that big."[3]

 

[Perknose]

My favourite player! Amazing. A shame he was not playing in the US his entire career so he could challenge Pete Rose's all-time hit record. Hopefully he at least takes the all-time 200 hit seasons record from him next season.

KT

It is a shame he started his US career so late, the guy is the very best at what he does. I hope he makes it into the Hall.

But . . . assuming he'd otherwise be able to challenge Pete Rose's all-time hits record is still a bit of a stretch. Rose had 4,200 hits plus! That's the equivalent of 21 straight 200 hit seasons. It boggles the mind!

I think Rose's record is one that will stand for a long, long time . . . along with Mr. Young's career wins record, of course! :awe:

 

[KeithTalent]

It is a shame he started his US career so late, the guy is the very best at what he does. I hope he makes it into the Hall.

But . . . assuming he'd otherwise be able to challenge Pete Rose's all-time hits record is still a bit of a stretch. Rose had 4,200 hits plus! That's the equivalent of 21 straight 200 hit seasons. It boggles the mind!

Probably, but he had almost 1,300 hits in his nine years in Japan. You'd obviously reduce that a bit for the quality of MLB pitching, so maybe 1,000? That would give him ~ 3,230 hits and he's 36 years old (rarely injured) and would need another 5 or 6 seasons to get close, which would take him to around 24 seasons (Pete lpayed 23 I think?). Pretty impressive.

KT

 

[Vette73]

He reminds me of a non-roid younger Bonds.

 

[John P]

I live in the Northwest. It's too bad he's had to play on so many crummy teams. His consistency is due to his great work ethic and preparation. The M's are lucky he's stayed in Seattle; I'm sure ticket sales would decline without him.

 

[oogabooga]

Probably, but he had almost 1,300 hits in his nine years in Japan. You'd obviously reduce that a bit for the quality of MLB pitching, so maybe 1,000? That would give him ~ 3,230 hits and he's 36 years old (rarely injured) and would need another 5 or 6 seasons to get close, which would take him to around 24 seasons (Pete lpayed 23 I think?). Pretty impressive.

KT

True. Although - he'd have had the advantage of MLB coaching/training/staff etc. I don't think anyone spends as much on it as they do (they I'm sure this isn't that big of a factor since I doubt he was in want of anything in Japan).

Also I wonder how MLB clubs would have treated a guy hitting 1 billion singles when power was all the rage.

Still, he would have gotten a lot closer and one has to wonder how amazing it would have been.

 

[SP33Demon]

It is a shame he started his US career so late, the guy is the very best at what he does. I hope he makes it into the Hall.

But . . . assuming he'd otherwise be able to challenge Pete Rose's all-time hits record is still a bit of a stretch. Rose had 4,200 hits plus! That's the equivalent of 21 straight 200 hit seasons. It boggles the mind!

I think Rose's record is one that will stand for a long, long time . . . along with Mr. Young's career wins record, of course! :awe:

Ichiro would most likely go into the Hall right now if he died. While Rose holds the all time hits record, he only had 2 Gold Gloves and only had 200 hits for 3 straight years. Ichiro with 9 straight GG's and 10 straight 200 hit seasons trumps Rose by a longshot. He steals bases at a very high rate, already almost 200 more steals than Rose had his entire career! He's batting 28 points higher, with slightly higher OBP and SLG. The highest batting average in Rose's career was .348 which Ichiro has already beaten a whopping four times (.350, .372, .351, .352). The only thing I see going for Rose was slightly more power (led the league in doubles a couple of times).

If Ichiro can go another 10 years with 200+ he will break Rose's record but that would be just superhuman (although possible).

 

[KeithTalent]

True. Although - he'd have had the advantage of MLB coaching/training/staff etc. I don't think anyone spends as much on it as they do (they I'm sure this isn't that big of a factor since I doubt he was in want of anything in Japan).

Also I wonder how MLB clubs would have treated a guy hitting 1 billion singles when power was all the rage.

Still, he would have gotten a lot closer and one has to wonder how amazing it would have been.

Yeah, good point. Also it's not like the Japanese league is terrible. I watched a bunch of games when I was over there, which isodd because I don't really watch much Baseball, and there were times it looked to be a similar level of play to MLB teams. Announcers were way better too!

KT

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Ichiro would most likely go into the Hall right now if he died. While Rose holds the all time hits record, he only had 2 Gold Gloves and only had 200 hits for 3 straight years. Ichiro with 9 straight GG's and 10 straight 200 hit seasons trumps Rose by a longshot. He steals bases at a very high rate, already almost 200 more steals than Rose had his entire career! He's batting 28 points higher, with slightly higher OBP and SLG. The highest batting average in Rose's career was .348 which Ichiro has already beaten a whopping four times (.350, .372, .351, .352). The only thing I see going for Rose was slightly more power (led the league in doubles a couple of times).

If Ichiro can go another 10 years with 200+ he will break Rose's record but that would be just superhuman (although possible).

During Rose's career, batting averages, in general, were lower.

Rose was also more of a utility player, having accrued significant playing time in the corner OF positions, 2B, 3B, 1B.

Rose was also top-10 MVP 10 times.

Rose also enjoyed immensely more postseason success than Ichiro.

None of this detracts from Ichiro's greatness. IMO, he's a sure-fire HOFer.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Yeah, good point. Also it's not like the Japanese league is terrible. I watched a bunch of games when I was over there, which isodd because I don't really watch much Baseball, and there were times it looked to be a similar level of play to MLB teams. Announcers were way better too!

KT

I think if Ichiro came to the USA as a youngster, coaches would have tried to get him to walk more.

 

[Flipped Gazelle]

Just saw the highlight... classy move by Toronto fans, giving Ichiro a standing ovation.

 

[Shlong]

Probably, but he had almost 1,300 hits in his nine years in Japan. You'd obviously reduce that a bit for the quality of MLB pitching, so maybe 1,000? That would give him ~ 3,230 hits and he's 36 years old (rarely injured) and would need another 5 or 6 seasons to get close, which would take him to around 24 seasons (Pete lpayed 23 I think?). Pretty impressive.

KT

Well his numbers in Japan were pretty much the same over here and in Japan you play 18 less games per season... over 10 seasons that's 180 games or 18 more games than a regular 162 game MLB full season.

 

[SludgeFactory]

I like Ichiro and respect his skills, but HOF voters are so stingy with votes now that I'm afraid he's going to have to get the magic 3000 hits to make it (and amazingly he has a decent shot at that). He's a straight up singles hitter, he plays in anonymity on the west coast, his teams have basically won nothing.

He's also suffered some from playing in this era. He would have put up some eye-popping steals numbers a generation ago, before the stolen base was killed off. If you could teleport him back into the late 70's and through the 80's, I think he could legitimately end up with 800, maybe even 1000 career steals. Stadiums were generally more spacious back then too, I suspect he would have shown somewhat more "power" on line drives that found the gaps for doubles/triples.

 

[skyking]

I like Ichiro and respect his skills, but HOF voters are so stingy with votes now that I'm afraid he's going to have to get the magic 3000 hits to make it (and amazingly he has a decent shot at that). He's a straight up singles hitter, he plays in anonymity on the west coast, his teams have basically won nothing.

He's also suffered some from playing in this era. He would have put up some eye-popping steals numbers a generation ago, before the stolen base was killed off. If you could teleport him back into the late 70's and through the 80's, I think he could legitimately end up with 800, maybe even 1000 career steals. Stadiums were generally more spacious back then too, I suspect he would have shown somewhat more "power" on line drives that found the gaps for doubles/triples.

If anything, those spacious stadiums would have showcased his glove and arm as well. He has a cannon with a scope instead of an arm.