Thoughts on the Hall of Fame Career of Ichiro

Now 40 years old, the New York Yankees’ Ichiro Suzuki is nearing the end of an extraordinary career. One of the finest-conditioned athletes in the game, he certainly has the body to play for another two or three years. But is the desire there? Ichiro will be a free agent after this season. It is a safe bet that some team would be interested in him for next summer, but there are no guarantees in this game, and a lot can happen between now and 2015.

How much more of Ichiro are we going to see? Now seems like a good time to take a moment to reflect back on one of the finest players of his era.

At the time of this writing, Ichiro is roughly 200 hits shy of the 3,000 milestone. Of course, we are talking about hits in the United States Major Leagues. If we tack on the 1,278 hits that he accumulated in the Japan Leagues, before coming to the U.S., he has surpassed 4,000, truly a remarkable body of work, no matter how you look at it. Even if Ichiro plays beyond this season, will he get enough playing time to reach 3,000? Had he made the move from Japan just one year earlier, he would likely have those extra 200 hits already, and it would be a moot point. “For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, ‘It might have been.'” Was it Yogi who said that?

By any yardstick, Ichiro appears to be a lock for the Hall of Fame. And yet, he has his detractors. They argue that he was always just a glorified singles hitter. Indeed, this is Ichiro’s M.O. He can knock the ball out of the park in batting practice, but purposely alters his swing come game time. He once told a reporter, “If I’m allowed to hit .220, I could probably hit 40 home runs, but nobody wants that.”

Still, he is on the short list of the greatest pure hitters in my lifetime, and I’ve been watching baseball for nearly 40 years. He is up there with Rod Carew, George Brett, and the late great Tony Gwynn, those rare players who seemed to be able to do whatever they wanted with a bat in their hands. At times Ichiro would toy with opposing pitchers. He was worth the price of admission.

Ichiro is tied, with Pete Rose, for the most seasons with at least 200 hits (ten). Even more impressive, those ten seasons were all in a row, beginning with Ichiro’s MVP rookie campaign in 2001. Here’s a breakdown of those seasons, along with his hits:

It is striking just how high Ichiro’s hit totals were. For most great players, reaching 200 hits in a season is a milestone achievement. But Ichiro would routinely reach the 200 mark much earlier in the season than anybody else, and he just kept going, and going, and going, like the pink bunny banging the drum.

Let’s do a little math. What if we were to add up the total number of hits Ichiro attained after each season’s 200th hit? Take his rookie year, for example, when he had 242 hits. His total number of hits attained after his 200th hit is 42. In his sophomore campaign, the number is eight. So if we do that for his entire career, adding up the number of hits achieved after each season’s 200th, we come up with…244.

That high number is to be expected from someone who is tied for the most 200-hit seasons ever. In fact, it is the highest total in baseball history. What makes it so amazing, however, is that no other player even comes close, even those who had numerous 200-hit seasons. The second-highest is Rogers Hornsby, with 167 (in seven 200-hit seasons), followed by Ty Cobb, with 158 (in 9 seasons). Rose, who, like Ichiro, had ten 200-hit campaigns, is way down the list at 114.

Yes, most of Ichiro’s hits may have been singles, and yes, he swings at everything, and doesn’t draw many walks. But Ichiro can get away with such an approach at the plate because he has the amazing ability to hit just about any pitch, in just about any location. I can recall one time when he lined a single to right on a ball that had bounced up to the plate.

But there was more to Ichiro’s game than swinging a bat. He had one of the best outfield arms I have ever seen, and was an outstanding overall defensive player, winning ten consecutive gold gloves.

His career stolen base percentage, at this writing, is 81.57, better than Rickey Henderson, Joe Morgan, or Lou Brock, all Hall of Famers. His single-season percentage of 95.745 in 2006 is the best-ever for a player with at least 45 steals (he was 45 for 47). True, in order to have a high stolen base percentage, you have to pick your spots in which to run, and make fewer attempts. Rickey Henderson seemingly ran all the time. But Ichiro was a master at picking his spots.

While ESPN bangs the incessant Derek-Jeter-Retirement-Drum, the Yankees have another Hall of Fame-caliber player who just may be in his final season as well. Ichiro has been a wonderful athlete to behold for the past 14 years. I hope I can continue to watch him for a few more, and I hope one day he gets a plaque in Cooperstown.

Hits Table Provided by Baseball-Reference.com : View Original Table