Ichiro Suzuki was great. Ichiro, as he was known, played the majority of his career in Seattle with the Mariners. He was nearly unanimously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday. In his career in Japan and the United States, he had 4,367 base hits. This is 111 more than Pete Rose. It is a shame Ichiro’s statistics from Japan do not count. They should. He would be the all-time hits leader, ending all controversy. There was nothing he could not do at the height of his athleticism. Was there ever a better baseball player than Ichiro?
Ichiro Suzuki and his Unbelievable Offensive
Statistics
Ichiro played until he was 45 years old. He played for nine seasons in Japan before playing 19 seasons in the United States. In Japan, he played with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). In Major League Baseball, he played with the Seattle Mariners, the New York Yankees, and the Miami Marlins. He returned to the Mariners to finish his career.
He is regarded by many as the best contact hitter of all-time. It is not worthwhile to review his 28 years of statistics, but he did end up with 3,089 hits in Major League Baseball. His 262 hits in 2004 broke George Sisler’s 84-year-old record of 257. Anytime you break a record that old, you are doing something correct. But he topped 200 hits in his first 10 seasons in American baseball.
He was a great player to come over from Japan and play in the Major Leagues. He was not the first, but he was the best, and he set the stage for other big-time Japanese stars to come over and play. Shohei Otani is certainly a second. Then there is Yu Darvish, right down to Roki Sasaki, who just signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers to play with Shohei.
Ichiro Suzuki and His Great Defense
Apart from being an outstanding hitter, Suzuki was a great defender. He played right field and was not only a plus defender but also had a great arm. For his great defense, Ichiro won 10 gold gloves. He was a complete player, which is important to point out.
It is said that the best ability is availability, and there were 10 seasons in which Ichiro played 155 or more games. There are 162 games in a Major League Baseball season, and three times, he played in all 162 games. He was an everyday player.
Some Musings
So, we have an everyday player who is a great defender and is probably the best contact hitter of all time. Unsurprisingly, he made the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. What is surprising is that he was not a unanimous selection. He got 99.7 percent (or 393) votes. There is a nonsensical thing about baseball writers who conduct the vote, saying they will not vote anyone into the Hall unanimously. Ichiro deserved it. So, by the way, did Mariano Rivera.
Ichiro only hit 117 home runs in his United States career (he had a high of 15 in 2005). If he wanted to, he could have hit more home runs, but swinging that hard would have made the contact he so highly prized less likely.
Conclusion
Ichiro Saski was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday with 97.7% of the vote. There has probably never been a position player, maybe Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, or Babe Ruth, who was more deserving of election. He was a great and complete player.
