Happy Birthday to future Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki. Originally from Japan, Ichiro came to the Seattle Mariners before the 2001 season as the team was looking for a new face of the franchise after stars like Ken Griffey Jr and Alex Rodriguez had left in the previous years. Ichiro would go on to play for Seattle as not only the face of the franchise but also as one of the best all-around players in baseball for 14 of his 19 seasons. He also played for the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins; what he did for the Mariners in his first ten seasons, 2001-10, is what we remember Ichiro for.

Career Statistics/Accolades (2001-2019):

.311 BA 3,089 HITS 117 HR 780 RBI 1,420 RUNS .355 OBP

  • 10x All-Star
  • 10x Gold Glove
  •  3x Silver Slugger
  •  2x Batting Title ( 2001 & 2004)
  • 2001 AL ROY/MVP

His first ten years with Seattle were nothing short of pure excellence, despite the Mariners only making the playoffs once during his time there. In his first ten seasons, Ichiro recorded 200 or more HITS and batted over .300. Ichiro also led the entire league in Hits seven times, setting the all-time Single-Season Hit record in 2004 with 262. In his rookie year, 2001, he won the AL Rookie of the Year Award and the AL MVP, leading the league with a .350 BA, 242 HITS, and 56 Stolen Bases. Ichiro was a great leadoff hitter when you factor in that he was a terrific baserunner on top of being a great contact-hitter. Ichiro stole 509 bases in his career, averaging 38 in his first ten years. His first eight seasons also saw Ichiro score 100 or more Runs in all years. 

I said all-around players because Ichiro was an incredible defensive Right Fielder. Only the late Roberto Clemente won more Gold Gloves in Right Field than Ichiro. Ichiro took home 10 Gold Glove Awards in consecutive. Not only did Ichiro have a strong throwing arm, but his arm was accurate in throwing out baserunners. Spending 16,569 Innings in Right Field, Ichiro was a lifetime .992 fielder, and his Fielding Percentage was multiple points above the league average among right fielders every year.

For a guy who didn’t Walk a lot, he was criticized by some who claimed that Ichiro put no effort into pulling the ball more due to his team’s struggles in scoring runs. That wasn’t Ichiro; not everyone is built to be a power hitter. Regarding his team’s struggles, you can’t blame Ichiro for the entire team not being properly built around him. Ichiro was built to be a pure contact hitter. As a left-handed hitter, he’s the only one who came to the plate at least 2,000 times, facing a Left left-handed pitcher, and against lefties, he hit .329 while hitting .304 against righties. Had Ichiro not played his first nine years in Japan and played those years in the United States, he would have the all-time Hits record of at least 500 more hits than Pete Rose. Another thing that made Ichiro great was his durability. In his first ten seasons, he only missed 32 games in that period of time.

I want to acknowledge what class act Ichiro was during his career. Wearing the #51 jersey during his time with the Mariners, after he officially signed with the Mariners, he wrote a letter to the former Mariner Randy Johnson, who is an all-time great, stating that he would wear the jersey with honor. His number #51 will probably be retired when Ichiro gets into the Hall of Fame when he is eligible in 2025. He, in all likelihood, will be a first-ballot Hall of Famer.

References:

  1. Ichiro Suzuki via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichiro_Suzuki#
  2. Ichiro Suzuki Career Statistics via Baseball-Reference: https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/suzukic01.shtml
  3. @nut_history via Twitter https://twitter.com/nut_history/status/1601279471478530049?lang=en