Ichiro gets 200th hit
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by Kwitt11
Ichiro homered off Roger Clemens in today's game for his second hit of the game and his 200th hit of the year. Ichiro has now reached the 200-hit plateau in each of his seven seasons in the majors since coming over from Japan in 2001, including his 2004 season where he broke the MLB record with 262 hits. His batting average over that span has been .333, the best active BA in the majors.
I wouldn't call Ichiro the best hitter in the majors, because he doesn't hit for the power that guys like Alex Rodriguez and Albert Pujols do. However, it is pretty much undebatable that he is currently the best in baseball at getting hits, in a Tony Gwynn sense. This was just his sixth homer of the season, and he's slugging a relatively mediocre .434, which is right in line with his career average. However, he's been extremely valuable to the Mariners this year, both on the basepaths (37 SB and just 3 CS) and in the field (playing a very solid center field).
I don't know how long Ichiro is going to be a great hitter; he's 33 years old right now, and his speed will likely begin to decline in the next two years or so. Ichiro gets probably more infield hits than just about anyone else in the game, so this should hurt his batting average as well as his baserunning and range in center. Still, Ichiro can clearly hit the ball well, which is a skill that never goes out of style.
Trivia Time: As I mentioned before, Ichiro now has seven consecutive years of 200+ hits. This tied him for the AL record, and puts him one shy of the overall MLB record. Who is he tied with for the AL record, and who holds the MLB record?
