Is 3,000 Attainable for Ichiro
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by Nejoshi
Can a guy that entered the majors at the age of 28 really get to 3,000 hits? Well, if you are Ichiro Suzuki, the answer could be yes. Becoming a member of the elite 3,000 hit club requires a measure of consistency and excellence that players like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Sammy Sosa, and Gary Sheffield haven’t been able to reach yet. If you consider that all four of them made their big league debuts before the age of 21, then you realize just how mind boggling Ichiro’s current pace is.
The Mariner centerfielder became the third fastest player to ever reach 1,500 hits on Sunday, and now it appears that bigger and better things are on the horizon. With his record breaking hit rate, it’s definitely possible to see Ichiro becoming the first Asian born player to join that exclusive club.
Since breaking into the big leagues in 2001, Suzuki has become the most prolific hitter of the decade, and made the seemingly impossible task of reaching 3.000 hits look like a reality. Only Al Simmons and George Sisler have gotten half way to 3,000 faster than Ichiro, and with a healthy 5-year, $90 million contract just inked, it’s official that the chase is on.
Many criticize the Japanese star for his reputation as a slap hitter, a player who relies on infield hits and seeing-eye singles to be productive. While that is very true, the game of baseball’s history has been decorated by ballplayers that made getting on base an art form. Ty Cobb and Rickey Henderson, two of 27 that have reached 3,000, made the art of manufacturing runs cool. Infield hits, stolen bases, and drag bunts ruled the game and made baseball a strategy-filled sport.
But, in an era of the long ball, Suzuki’s old school style is often overlooked as boring. The table setters don’t get the recognition anymore, it’s all about the cleanup hitter that drives in runs and hits the ball out of the park. A leadoff hitter like Ichiro isn’t asked to hit 30 homers a year; instead, they are asked to get on base by any means necessary, and few hitters, past or present, have had as much success as Ichiro has had during his six plus years in MLB.
No big leaguer has been as proficient at making routine ground balls on the infield turn into nightmares for pitchers. Watching Suzuki sprint his way out of the batter’s box is analogous to watching Deion Sanders kill a 40-yard dash, or Justin Gaitlin break the 100-meter world record time: it’s amazing to watch someone glide through the air with such ease.
Suzuki is already the first man in the history of the MLB to record over 200 hits in each of his first four seasons, and barring injury, he will extend that record to seven this season. The man has the distinction of having more hits in a season (262) than anyone, and is one of only two men to have won the Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season (Fred Lynn’s 1975 season is the other).
Standing at 33 years old, it will still require a considerable amount of work for the 2001 AL MVP to get to 3,000 hits. It would be borderline ludicrous to expect Ichiro to maintain his career average of 225 hits a season for the next five years, but Ichiro could easily get to the mark in seven or eight years. Once his five-year contract expires, it would be easy to see someone – especially the Seattle Mariners – signing him on for two more years so that he can finish his pursuit. With that in mind, the 3,000 hit club seems very attainable for Ichiro.
