Adrián Beltré Makes History...Again April 6, 2018

Texas Rangers 3B Adrián Beltré made history once again during yesterday's game against the Oakland A's. With his 2 for 3 performance, Beltré passed Hall of Famer Rod Carew with his career hit number 3,054. In doing so, Beltré became the player born in Latin America with most career hits. Beltré was born in the Dominican Republic while Carew was born in Panama. But Beltré's history making didn't end there. 

With his second hit of the game, Beltré tied another Hall of Famer on the All-Time Hits list. This time, he stood side by side with Rickey Henderson. Both players are on the list with 3,055 hits. Hall of Famer Craig Biggio sits just ahead with 3,060 hits. Now here is where the fun really begins.

In front of Biggio is Seattle Mariners outfielder (and future Hall of Famer) Ichiro Suziki. Ichiro currently has 3, 082 hits and is the player who has most career hits that was born in a foreign country. Plus add to the 3,000 hit mix is Los Angeles Angeles (I almost typed California and Anaheim before finally typing Los Angeles, LOL) 1B/DH Albert Pujols. Pujols, who like Ichiro and Beltré is a future Hall of Famer, currently sits at 2,975 career hits. 

It is also conceivable that a 200 hit season puts Beltré at 14th on the list just past Hall of Famer Cal Ripken, who sits at 3,184 hits. The 2018 season is shaping up nicely as a race within the 3,000 hit club.

After Pujols, where do we sit in terms of current players on the cusp of the 3,000 club. You have Detroit Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera with 2,643 hits and Seattle Mariners 2B Robinson Cano with 2,386 hits. After that, it'll be a while before we have a discussion about who might be next to reach the 3,000 hit club.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#BaseballSisco
#BaseballSiscoKidStyle

For Further Reading:

• Career Hits List from Baseball Reference.com
• Active Hits List from Baseball Reference.com

Jeter and Ichiro Move Up the All-Time Hits List

Yesterday marked a double achievement for two members of the New York Yankees. Derek Jeter tied the legendary Honus Wagner for sixth on the All-Time hit list with 3,430 hits. Barring any monumental injury from today on, Jeter will have sole possession of sixth place on the list. Here are the top five players on the All-Time Hits list:

1. Pete Rose 4,256
2. Ty Cobb 4,191
3. Hank Aaron 3,771
4. Stan Musial 3,630
5. Tris Speaker 3,514

Can Jeter belt out 70 more hits to get to 3,500? I'm not sure if he can, but it will be fun to watch to see if he comes close.

Ichiro Suzuki also tied a legendary player who he is already linked to on the All-Time hit list. Ichiro tied George Sisler for forty-eighth on the All-Time hits list with 2,810 hits. When Ichiro set the single season hits record in 2004, he did so by breaking George Sisler's record of 257 hits which was set in 1920. Here is the list for the top ten players on the Single Season hits list:

1. Ichiro Suzuki (30)   262 in 2004

2. George Sisler (27)   257 in 1920

3. Lefty O'Doul (32)   254 in 1929

  Bill Terry (31)             254 in 1930

5. Al Simmons (23)   253 in 1925

6. Rogers Hornsby (26)   250 in 1922

  Chuck Klein (25)   250 in 1930

8. Ty Cobb (24)           248 in 1911

9. George Sisler (29)      246 in 1922

10. Ichiro Suzuki (27)  242 in 2001

I would think that Ichiro would like to continue playing so that he can reach the 3,000 hit plateau of which he is 190 hits away from. I don't think that if he doesn't reach 3,000 he will be kept out of Cooperstown. I think his place in the Hall of Fame is already secure. But 3,000 hits is always a nice thing to have, especially since only 28 players have ever hit the 3,000 mark. We'll have to watch and see if he can do it.

Until Then Keep Playing Ball,
Baseball Sisco
#baseballsisco
#baseballsiscokidstyle

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

The 3000-Hit Club Post Derek Jeter

I read an interesting article in today's New York Times written by Neil Payne entitled After Jeter Reaches 3,000 Hits, Who's Likely Next?. In the article, Payne describes who might be the next players to reach the lofty 3,000 hit plateau after Derek Jeter (who is currently at 2,990 hits). The method in which Payne reaches his conclusion is based on Bill James' theory called the Favorite Toy. As per Payne:

the Favorite Toy, a simple means of projecting performance based on a player’s age and most recent career trends.

The formula essentially asks and answers three questions:

1. How far is a player from the milestone in question?
2. How quickly is he approaching the milestone?
3. How much time does he have left to attain the milestone?

So based on the model, the next three players who have the highest probability of reaching 3,000 hits are Alex Rodriguez (2,731), Johnny Damon (2,637) and Albert Pujols (1,969). Time is on the side of these players, especially Pujols. Both Rodriguez and Damon are in their mid to late 30's and I believe will continue to be productive players. Pujols is truly amazing to me since at the age of 31 he is only 31 hits away from 2,000 hits and 78 homeruns from 500. If based on his average of 197 hits per season (his highest of of 212 in 2003 and lowest of 177 in 2006) he's on pace to hit 3,000 hits during the 2017 season. God knows how many homeruns he'll have at that point. Like I said before: truly amazing.

A name that I find surprising that is missing from the top of the list is that of Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. Payne says the following about Ichiro:

Even for a great hitter like Ichiro Suzuki, the trends are pointing down. He ranks 11th among active players, but he is 37, needs 690 hits to reach 3,000 and has fallen off this season

So the man in 37 and is currently having himself an "Un-Ichiro" type season. Keep in mind that even though he currently has 2,310 hits in 11 Major League Baseball season, this is a man that also has 1,285 hits while playing in Japan for the Orix Blue Wave of the Nippon Professional Baseball League. So his total hit figure is 3,595. His track record has proven that he is a consistent hit machine. He has averaged 224 hits a season since his debut in the Majors in 2001 (his highest was 262 in 2004 and his lowest was 206 in 2005) and until he shows me in more than half a year that his skills are in decline, I am going to expect him to live up to his prior production. I'm not saying that age doesn't play a role in the diminishing of skills it does, but I just don't think that metrics of any kind can quantify a man's desire and motivation to achieve personal goals. I think that Ichiro will be the first Japanese ballplayer to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown regardless if he reaches the 3,000 hit plateau but how better to nail down his legacy by getting to 3,000. Whether he gets there playing with the Mariners or not is another story for another day.

I do agree with Payne when he says it might be difficult for Ivan Rodriguez (2,835) and Omar Vizquel (2,823) to reach 3,000. Both players have become utility players and getting over 175 hits to reach 3,000 in that role makes it difficult. The necessary at-bats are just not there. An intriguing player is Vladimir Guerrero.

At 2,494 hits, he will reach the 2,500 hit mark within the next week or two. Based on last year's resurgent season with the Texas Rangers, Guerrero can still be a productive player though he can pretty much only do so in the DH position. I'm not sure if the lack of interest in Guerrero during last season's off-season is a reflection of Guerrero's skills but will the at-bats be there for Guerrero to get the necessary 500 hits to reach 3,000.

As it stand today, the 3,000 hit club only has 27 members. After Jeter makes it 28 within a few weeks and possibly 32 with the potential addition of Damon, Pujols, Suzuki and Rodriguez I think that there will be a period of time where no one will reach 3,000 hits making membership in that club as exclusive as the 300 win club.

Any opinions? Additions and/or subtractions? Let me know.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for an interactive exhibit on the 3,000 Hit club presented by the National Baseball Hall of Fame at Cooperstown website

Ichiro and the 200 Hit Club in Japan

I came across an interesting piece of Baseball history while researching Ichiro's Japanese statistics for my last post. Last week Ichiro tied Pete Rose for the most 200-hit seasons for a career with 10 seasons. As I stated last week, Ichiro is the Majors season hit leader with 262 which he accomplished in 2004. But what I found interesting is that Ichiro was also the single season hit leader in Japan with 210 hits which he accomplished in 1994 while with the Orix Blue Wave. What I didn't know what until that time no player had ever eclipsed the 200-hit mark in the Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB). (PHOTO CREDIT http://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com/)

This season makes the 60th anniversary of the establishment of the NPB. I found it amazing that until 1994 there hadn't been a player with 200-hits. Now granted, the NPB plays a shorter season than MLB. I'm not sure if the number of games are consistent from year to year but from what I have researched, the last few years the Japanese season has been 144 games long while the MLB season is 162 games. That's a difference of 18 games which can be between 60 and 75 at-bats over that span. In 1994, Ichiro had 210-hits in 546 at-bats for an average of .385. In a league that plays small ball over the bloop and the blast that is most common here, I would think that more players would have had 200-hits. That might be changing.

Since Ichiro set the single season record for both the Pacific League and the NPB in 1994, four players have hit for 200 or more hits in a season. Here is the breakdown:

Norichika Aoki 202 in 2005 with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows
Alex Ramirez 204 in 2007 with the Yomiyuri Giants
Matt Murton 205 in 2010 with the Hanshin Tigers
Tsuyoshi Nishioka 203 in 2010 with the Chiba Lotte Marines
Norichika Aoki 202 in 2010 with the Tokyo Yakult Swallows

(PHOTO CREDIT http://japanesebaseballcards.blogspot.com/)

Aoki, who had the spotlight of the World Baseball Classic on him during the 2009 tournament, is the only player to have multiple 200-hits seasons (2005 and 2010). Former Rockies and Cubs outfielder Matt Murton currently holds the Central League single season record of 205-hits and has 8 games left to try and break Ichiro's record of 210-hits during his inaugural season with the Hanshin Tigers.

I know for many baseball fans here in the U.S., happenings in the Japanese baseball league barely register as a blip on the radar but I like to think of myself as a more worldy baseball fan. Especially since I remember the first day I saw Ichiro being introduced to the U.S. press with his signing with Seattle Mariners for the 2001 season and wondering who was this Japanese guy with the cool shades. We all now know who he is.

FH

For Further Reading
- Robert Whiting The Meaning of Ichiro: The New Wave from Japan and the Transformation of Our National Pastime (New York, Time Warner Book Group: 2004)
- Click Here for the English Language version of the Nippon Baseball League webpage
- Click Here to access YakyuBaka.com for an awesome site devoted to all things Yakyu. That's Baseball for all you Gaijin out there. LOL.
- Click Here to access my April 8, 2010 post on Alex Ramirez being the dominant Latino ballplayer in Japan from Latinoball
- Click Here to access my July 1, 2010 post on Alex Ramirez as he progressed during the 2010 NPB season from Latinoball
- Click Here to access my post from September 1, 2010 detailing how Alex Ramirez became the 1st player in the history of the NPB to have 8 100+ RBI seasons from Latinoball

Ichiro and Bautista Hit MIlestones

Today has been an early day for milestones in Baseball. Playing against each other's teams in Toronto Both Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Bautista have reached personal milestones so here goes.

- Ichiro Suzuki
Ichiro continued his climb up the record books by reaching the 200 hits plateau for his 10th consecutive season. This coupled with his Nippon Professional Baseball League (NPB)( stats puts him at over 3500 hits for his career (1285 in Japan/2228 in the U.S. ***Not including today). His achievement ties him with the all-time hits leader Pete Rose for total 200 hit seasons and one year ahead of Hall of Famer Ty Cobb. As it is, Ichiro has the season hits record with 262 having passed George Sisler in 2004 and until 2005, he was the only player in the history of the NPB to have 200 or more hits in a season. He still owns the single season record for hits in a season in Japan with 210 which he set in 1994. If Ichiro had played his total career in the U.S. with the numbers he had amassed in Japan we'd be talking about how Ichiro would be in the hunt to catch Pete Rose for the all-time hits record. I'm really not surprised that Ichiro has succeeded at the plate the way he has. I think that Ichiro can absolutely reach 3000 hits here in the U.S. which would just put the cherry on top of a Hall of Fame career.

- Jose Bautista
Jose Bautista continued his magical 2010 season by belting his 50th homerun. In doing so, Bautista became the 26th player in the history of MLB to hit 50 or more homers in a season. Considering how long professional Baseball has been played and the Steroid era, I find that 26 players having hit 50 or more homers to be small club. So I decided to look into who is on the list. Here goes:

Babe Ruth (54 1920, 59 1921, 60 1927, 54 1928)
Hack Wilson (56 1930)
Jimmy Foxx (58 1932, 50 1938)
Hank Greenberg (58 1938)
Johnny Mize (51 1947)
Ralph Kiner (51 1947 54 1949)
Willie Mays (51 1951, 52 1965)
Mickey Mantle (52 1956, 54 1961)
Roger Maris (61, 1961)
George Foster (52 1977)
Cecil Fielder (51 1990)
Albert Belle (50 1995)
Brady Anderson (50 1996)
Mark McGwire (52 1996, 58 1997, 70 1998, 65 1999)
Ken Griffey Jr. (56 1997, 56 1998)
Greg Vaughn (50 1998)
Sammy Sosa (66 1998, 63 1999, 50 2000, 64 2001)
Alex Rodriguez (52 2001, 57 2002, 54 2007)
Luiz Gonzalez (57 2001)
Barry Bonds (73 2001)
Jim Thome (52 2002)
Andruw Jones (51 2005)
Ryan Howard (58 2006)
David Ortiz (54 2006)
Prince Fielder (50 2007)
Jose Bautista (50 2010)

Where does Bautista rate on this list. In my opinion, I think that he is more like Brady Anderson and Luis Gonzalez. Where many of the players on this list hit 30 to 40 homeruns on a consistent basis, Anderson and Gonzalez hovered between the 15 to 25 homerun range. In that case, Bautista is below them since in his 6 years as a major leaguer he has never his 20 homeruns, reach a high of 16 for a season in 2006. I know much has been made about his work with Toronto hitting coach Dwayne Murphy to improve his swing. I guess time will tell if this season was a fluke or if Bautista is the real deal. Either way, welcome to the 50 homerun club.

FH

For Further Reading:
- Click Here for Ichiro's statistics page from Japanese Players.com
- Click Here for James Hill's article Ichiro ties record with 10th 200-hit season from MLB.com
- Click here for Jerry Crasnick's article Strength in Jose Bautista's numbers from ESPN.com
- Click Here for an interesting Jose Bautista fan/blog page