Ichiro Suzuki Makes History
by Stacey on Sep 14, 2009 5:07 PM EDT
in News & Rumors
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PrintYesterday, in the 2nd inning of the 2nd game of a double header, the Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki's RBI single was his 200th hit of the year, making him the first person in modern baseball history to have 200 hits for 9 consecutive years. What makes it even more amazing is that he's had at least 200 hits EVERY year that he's played in the majors. To put 200 hits in a season in perspective, here are some facts:
- Since 1901, there have been 470 two hundred hit seasons. That comes out to just over 4 players per year with 200 hits.
- 95 players have more than one season with 200 hits. Almost half of those (42) did it twice. 18 players (including Babe Ruth) did it three times. Only 35 have ever done it more than three times.
- With his 9th 200 hit season, Ichiro is tied for 2nd most ever with Ty Cobb. Only Pete Rose has more 200 hit seasons, with 10.
- Since 2001, the American League has had 32 two hundred hit seasons. 20 of those have been by Ichiro (9), Michael Young (5), Derek Jeter (3), and Miguel Tejada (3). With about 20 games left in 2009 for most teams, Jeter (192) will almost certainly reach 200 for the 7th time in his career. Other possibles in '09 are Robinson Cano (183), Miguel Cabrera (177), and Nick Markakis (174). If any of those three do get there, it'll be the first time in their careers.
- The Orioles have had less 200 hit seasons in their history than Ichiro has had in the past 9 years: Miguel Tejada (2004, 2006), Cal Ripken (1983, 1991), B.J. Surhoff (1999), and Al Bumbry (1980). If you add in the franchises' 200 hit seasons with the Browns they manage to pass him, but the same can't be said for the Angels, Royals, Brewers/Pilots, Rays, Blue Jays, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Marlins, Astros/Colt .45s, Mets, Padres, and Nats/Expos.
The more I think about it, the more amazing it is, really. And the craziest part is that Ichiro didn't start playing in the United States until he was 27 years old. He played 7 full seasons and 2 partial seasons (split time in the minors) in Japan. He never had a down year in transitioning, either. His first year in the MLB he led the majors with 242. There's no reason to believe that if he had started in the US earlier that he wouldn't have had the same success. Ichiro has 2005 hits in his major league career and if he'd started in the US instead of Japan it's entirely possible that he'd have about 3500 career hits. That's sick.
So congratulations to Ichiro. I look forward to watching him get his 10th consecutive 200 hit year in 2010 (just not against the Orioles).
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I still think he should put his actual last name on the back of his jersey.
"You don’t EVEN KNOW who birdman is!"
technically
ichiro is his last name
Ray Rice is so agile. He's a whole new breed for agile you need a new word to describe his agility... UBER-AGILITY!
by BaltimoreSportsFan on Sep 14, 2009 6:43 PM EDT up reply actions
Always wondered about that
Was that just because Americans don’t know that Japanese put their last name first, and they put Ichiro on his jersey and it stuck? Or was it Ichiro’s decision?
According to Wikipedia.
t was during the 1994 season that he began to use his given name, “Ichiro” instead of his family name, “Suzuki” on the back of his uniform. Suzuki is the second most common family name in Japan, and his manager introduced the idea as a publicity stunt to help create a new image for what had been a relatively weak team, as well as a way to distinguish their rising star. Initially, Ichiro disliked the practice and was embarrassed by it; however, “Ichiro” was a household name by the end of the season and he was flooded with endorsement offers.
"You don’t EVEN KNOW who birdman is!"
Heh thanks, guess I could have looked at wikipedia all this time
I went to Japan in high school (though I spent a lot of time in Japan before that trip) and at the hostel/hotel type thing we stayed at, there were all these old men in the lobby watching TV in the morning, like 7, 8 AM — so 7, 8 PM in the US — and they’d be flipping channels, and on some channel there was always the Mariners game… but they would only watch Ichiro’s at bats! They’d watch him with intense concentation, then as soon as the at-bat was over, they would flip to another channel. And then somehow know around when to flip back to the baseball game to watch his next at bat.
Wait, I guess it wasn't that early
since it’s the Mariners… duh. So it was later in the morning. That high school trip was a long time ago!
I really really didn't like him when he first came over
I’m not sure why, he just seemed like a guy who wasn’t all that good and just got hits because he was fast. But, seriously, he’s pretty awesome. He’s definitely won me over as a ball player that I admire and respect and he’s a funny dude too.
The last letter in his name is "O"
i used to live in Seattle and Ichiro is definitely one of my favorite MLB players. He is quirky but one heckuva talent and a hard worker. I hope he gets 200 hits for 9 more seasons. It would be awesome if he because the all-time hits leader (not likely, but I wouild love it).
My annoyance this week is that Jeter’s club record for hits gets more press than a truly unique achivement. Sigh.
I love Ichiro
Its great being in portland and being able to watch him day in an day out.
He has some great qoutes to:
“In baseball, even the best hitters fail seven of ten times, and of those seven failures there are different reasons why. Some are personal failures, others are losses to the pitcher. You just get beat. In those personal failures, I felt I could have done better.”
When you talk about (golfers or race-car drivers), I don’t want to see them run. It’s the same if you were to meet a beautiful girl and go bowling. If she’s an ugly bowler, you are going to be disappointed."
RE: Korea ""It smells like garlic."
“Yesterday when I played, inside my head I said ‘I want to go home quickly,’ and I swung and I was able to get a hit because I wanted to go home. Today I thought, ‘I want to hurry up and get something to eat,’ and I swung and got a hit today.”
and the best for last:
“To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”
"Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me, I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out."-Ichiro
by WestcoastO'sFan on Sep 14, 2009 9:48 PM EDT reply actions
I always thought he was a great hitter
But when I started reading/hearing about his annual profanity filled All-Star game pre-game speeches I really started liking him. Wish they had one on tape somewhere – sounds hilarious.
Only thing that bothers me about him (and it’s not really about him) is when stupid people claim he could hit 40 HRs if he wanted to. Can’t stand that shit.
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