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