The Record You’re Not Aware Of

How quickly records get lost when they aren’t about the long ball. Seems we follow Albert Pujols and his quest for the triple crown with the same intensity we used to follow the bloated home run chase of Sosa and McGwire and then later Bonds, but what about a record that might be just as hard to reach and take far more consistency? Seems we don’t pay any attention to that.

If you weren’t aware Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki is 35 hits shy of his 10th season of 200 or more hits. The all time leader is Pete Rose with 10 but Rose can’t lay claim to what Ichiro can: if he gets 200 this year: they will have been done consecutively. As a matter of fact Ichiro has never had a season of less than 200 hits. So why is no one talking about this? Is it because a single doesn’t have the hammer of a home run? Is it because there are no fireworks for getting on first?

While no one would dispute that Ichiro Suzuki is a great player, what gets lost is exactly how good he is. He ranks 32nd in batting average all time in a day and age where players don’t hit for a high average consistently. In the last 30 years only two guys have had higher averages than Ichiro lifetime. He is in the top 200 all time for hits and only after 10 years. If he was 10 years younger( a disadvantage of playing in Japan for so long) he’d be threatening for Rose’s all time record. As a matter of fact if you add up the hits in both leagues Ichiro has an astounding 3400. And he’s got another 5 years left if he wants to keep playing.

But his accomplishments get overshadowed by players who swing bigger bats and make more highlights but when you look at the league leaders for the last decade you see Ichiro’s name. He’s someone who has 9 Gold Gloves, and MVP and was the Rookie of the Year. The fact is he has been the quintessential leadoff man in a league where leadoff men are hard to find. The fact I can find you 10 to 20 guys who have had a game that was like Albert Pujols, but I don’t know if I can find you 2 or 3 whose game was like Ichiros.

Ichiro will be forgotten on a team that is going nowhere in a city where football is king. He’ll miss the limelight on SportsCenter and he’ll be an afterthought when the start handing out the MVP but for those who watch, those who really watch they know they are witnessing something special. They know 10 seasons of 200 hits is something special and they’ll be glad they were watching.

September 2, 2010 – Michael Cahill How quickly records get lost when they aren’t about the long ball. Seems we follow Albert Pujols and his quest for the triple crown with the same intensity we used to follow the bloated home run chase of Sosa and McGwire and then later Bonds, but what about a [...]