Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki collected a pinch-hit single during the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies, bumping him up to 2,950 hits for his career.
Even more impressive, Suzuki started his career in Japan at the age of 18, playing nine seasons with Orix of the Japan Pacific League before finally joining MLB in 2001 as a 27-year-old with the Seattle Mariners.
As a rookie, he led the league in hits (242), stolen bases (56) and batting average (.350), earning not only an American League Rookie of the Year award but also AL MVP honors. He even took home the Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and was named as a starter for the All-Star Game.
Suzuki’s first season started an incredible run of individual achievements, including 10 straight All-Star Game appearances and 10 straight Gold Gloves as well as three Silver Slugger awards.
Although there isn’t much left to accomplish, the future Hall of Famer could top off his career by becoming the 30th member of the 3,000-hit club.
Of course, Suzuki also had 1,278 hits in Japan, with his combined total of 4,228 sitting just 28 shy of Pete Rose’s all-time MLB record (4,256).
Suzuki did face easier competition in Japan, but with schedules consisting of just 144 games, he never recorded more than 546 at-bats or 210 hits in a single year.
In comparison, he topped 675 at-bats in nine of his 11 full seasons with the Mariners, including a 2004 campaign that saw him log 704 at-bats and an MLB-record 262 hits while playing 161 games.
It’s still not clear if Suzuki will reach 3,000 career MLB hits, as he only has 15 in 46 at-bats (.326 average) through the first 40 games of Miami’s season, having started in just seven of his 30 appearances.
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