Ichiro Suzuki Reaches The 4,000 Career Hit Plateau (U.S. Japan Combined)

Photo Courtesy of MLB.com

In his first at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays, Ichiro Suzuki hit a single to reach the 4,000 hit plateau. In doing so, Ichiro hit a total of 1,278 hits in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB) and 2,722 In Major League Baseball (MLB). 

Now some have downplayed the mention of this milestone since many consider the NPB to be a minor league compared to the MLB. This post is not for the purpose of proving or disproving that (for the record I consider the NPB to be somewhere in between the MLB and AAA). And for the record, here in the U.S. his hit total is 2,722 for 59th all-time behind Roberto Alomar who has 2,724. 

For this post, all I want to do is to lay out all of the personal achievements of Ichiro both in MLB and the NPB. This compilation comes from the press bulletin dated August 21, 2013 entitled SABR Asian Baseball Research Committee Salutes Ichiro on Career Hit 4,000 by the SABR Asian Baseball Research Committee. His impressive career includes the following achievements:

Major League Baseball (MLB):

·         - 10× MLB All-Star (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)

·         - 10× Gold Glove Award (2001–2010)

·         - 3× Silver Slugger Award (2001, 2007, 2009)

·         - 2× AL batting champion (2001, 2004)

·         - AL MVP (2001)

·         - AL Rookie of the Year (2001)

·         - Highest Batting Average for ROY Winner (.350, appearing in 100+ games)

·         - AL stolen base leader (2001)

·         - Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award (2005)

·         - MLB All-Star Game MVP (2007)

·         - MLB Record: 262 hits, single season

·         - MLB Record: 225 singles, single season

·         - MLB Record: Most hits in 10 seasons (2,244)

Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB):

·         - 7× NPB All-Star (1994–2000)

·         - 3× PL MVP (1994–1996)

·         - 7× Golden Glove Award (1994–2000)

·         - 7× Best Nine Award (1994–2000)

·         - 3× Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1994–1995, 2004)

·         - 3× Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (1994–1995, 2001)

·         - 7× PL Batting Champion (1994–2000)

·         - 5× PL Safe Hit Champion (1994–1998)

·         - 5× PL On-base Champion (1994–1996, 1999–2000)

·         - 1995 PL Stolen Base Champion

·         - 1995 PL RBI Champion

·         - Japan Series Champion (1996)

World Baseball Classic (WBC):

·         - 2x Champion (2006, 2009)

Regardless of what position you hold on the Ichiro Suzuki statistics/achievements stance, there's no doubt that he is an impressive Baseball player that has been able to be successful on both sides of the Pacific.

Sisco Kid

Alfonso Soriano Has 2000 Worldwide Hits

Suzyn Waldman made it known during the Yankees post game show that the Japanese media was surrounding Alfonso Soriano. When she approached Ichiro Suzuki, she was told that Soriano with his 2-3 performance today places him at 1,999 hits in the MLB. In addition, Soriano had two hits during his brief stint in Japan which has him at 2,001 hits. Why is this important?

In order to be eligible for the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame a player must start his Professional career in Japan AND must have a total of 2,000 hits (including hits in MLB). So Alfonso Soriano is now eligible to be inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

In case you didn't know, Soriano started his career with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp of the NPB Central League. He played the 1996 season with the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's farm team and was promoted to the main team where he went 2-17 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, 4 Ks and 2 walks. In a move similar to Hideo Nomo's, Soriano hired agent Don Nomura to negotiate his free agency from Japan. He retired in Japan exploiting the "voluntary retirement" loophole as Nomo did a year earlier and signed a contract with the New York Yankees in 1998 against the protests of the NPB. This, Nomo's departure and the situation with Hideki Irabu would lead the NPB to enact the posting system that is in place between the MLB and the NPB.

Two interesting articles that go deeper into this are Robert Whiting's Irabu's impact on MLB-NPB relations profound (Oct 16, 2011) and Contract loophole opened door for Nomo's jump (Oct 10, 2010)

Congratulations to Alfonso Soriano on his international achievement. As with his return to the New York Yankees this season, he might be able to go home again this time to Japan if he is ever inducted into their Baseball Hall of Fame.

Sisco Kid

My POV on Alex Rodriguez

There have been those out there in the media and those people who I have spoken about that have said that Alex Rodriguez might be a somewhat sympathetic figure in what some are saying is a witch-hunt by Major League Baseball. One such article is William C. Rhoden's article Baseball’s Bullying Makes It Tempting to Root for Rodriguez from the New York Times dated August 1, 2013. In the article Rhoden says:

Funny how Major League Baseball can make you root for the villain.Commissioner Bud Selig’s heavy-handed approach to the investigation of Alex Rodriguez has almost turned Rodriguez into a sympathetic figure. And that’s difficult....The aggressive pursuit of Rodriguez fits into baseball’s recent patterns of demonizing unpopular players and casting them as the faces of the P.E.D. epidemic.

I disagree with this. Ryan Braun, who flat out lied was not an unpopular player. When the news broke that he failed a test, there wasn't the same type of outcry by the fans and media compared to a potential posititve test by someone like Bonds or Rodriguez. Why? Braun was a player people liked and rooted for. He got votes of support from many different people including Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Now everyone is left with egg on their face because of it. Braun wasn't demonized in the least. This brings me to Rodriguez.

I can't sympathize with him. He brought this all on himself. Rodriguez got away with his first admission of steroids usage in 2009. He was humbled, broken down put all his sins out in the open and came back to redeem himself with his performance during that season and in the Postseason. The A-Rod haters won't admit it but the Yankees don't win the World Series without his hitting. Had he never gotten another post-season hit it would not have taken away from that performance and proverbial rising like a Phoenix from a perceived burning bonfire of a career. But his return to find some miracle performance enhancing whatever has tarnished that and he's the only one to blame for that.

The rules are clear. He could have met with authorized medical practitioners who work within the rules to try and find a way to help him if he felt he couldn't better himself as he aged. But he didn't. He chose to do things differently and he's going to end up paying for it now but also in the end whether he gets 100 games, a year or a lifetime ban. He might play Baseball again, but it'll be for naught. His career is over. His dreams of being the best player ever are over and he will never get into the Hall of Fame. It really is quite sad.

Sisco Kid