As the 2009 baseball season comes to its end, what will people remember looking back on the year: the dominance of the New York Yankees during the regular season, Manny Ramirez busted for a steroid suspension of 50 games, the return of Pedro Martinez, the upcoming post season developments? Lost in the settling dust of the 2009 MLB baseball calendar will be the crowning achievements of Ichiro Suzuki, who has already collected his 200th hit of the season in the same year that he also collected his 2000 hit of his MLB career. Of course, this does not include any of his hits from earlier in his career while playing in Japan. Ichiro, who came to the Seattle Mariners in 2001, has now collected at least 200 hits in a season for the 9th straight year--every year that he has played in the majors. Pete Rose holds the 200 hit per season record at 10. But when you consider that Rose played in the majors for 23 years and that his greatest span of consecutive 200 hit seasons was 3, Ichiro's achievements are even more impressive. Consider some of Ichiro's other career achievements: American league MVP and rookie of the year in 2001, American League batting champion in 2001 and 2004, 9 time all-star. The winner of 8 gold gloves as a right fielder and center fielder, Ichiro possesses a strong throwing arm and is one of the great defensive outfielders over this past decade. He also has 340 career stolen bases. In 2004, he collected 262 base hits, setting the all-time MLB baseball single season hit record. Ichiro became the 2nd fastest major league player to reach 2000 hits (recording it in 1402 games).
Yet, baseball America doesn't seem to give Ichiro the fanfare he so richly deserves. Why? Maybe playing on the sleepy west coast in Seattle in a time zone incompatible with ESPN's east coast preference has something to do with it. Also, since the end of the Lou Piniella era earlier in the decade, the mariners as a team have been woeful in recent years. Another factor: baseball pundits often appear to be irked by Ichiro's lack of power and run production. Chicks dig the long ball, indeed. But while he may not be comparable to Albert Pujols or Alex Rodriguez in terms of slugging or run production, Ichiro's hitting, fielding, and running dominance makes him a very special player.
Even more special about the contributions of Ichiro are the historic and cultural implications on the game of baseball. While there were several Japanese pitchers to play at the major league level before him, Ichiro was one of the first Japanese position players (if not the first) to play in the majors. He was the first Japanese player to be a league MVP and batting champion. Think about how teams have changed the ways they evaluate players, with more now setting up scouting divisions in the far east, as a result of Ichiro's impact at the major league level. As Bob Geren, manager of the Oakland A's, commented several weeks ago, "Even though there were players from Japan before him, Ichiro's the one you think about first."
Next year, with 10 years of major league baseball service under his belt, Ichiro becomes officially eligible for hall of fame consideration after he retires. And there doesn't appear to be any sign of the great Ichiro slowing down. Despite being 35 years old, 3000 MLB hits are a real possibility for him. Regardless of his contributions after putting in his 10th season, he is a worthy hall of fame candidate for dominating during his era and for making a significant historic/cultural impact on the game of baseball.
The following sources contributed to this post:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aHIT1PmXL4ZY
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