No player in big-league history had ever had five seasons in which he collected at least 220 hits until Ichiro did it with that single.
Two players – Rogers Hornsby and Jesse Burkett, who made his run in the late 1890′s – had at least 220 hits in a year four times.
Seven others – Bill Terry, Chuck Klein, George Sisler, Joe Medwick, Lloyd Waner, Stan Musial and Ty Cobb – had done it in three different seasons.
Why the long list of names? Each of those players is in the Hall of Fame.
Ichiro will join them in due time.
It sure is nice to compare hitters with those of the past. Too bad we can’t do it with pitchers. Ichiro is truly amazing. He surpasses people like Pete Rose, Rod Carew, Wade Boggs (perennial 200 hits per season players). He’s a certain Hall of Famer regardless of how many years he plays in the United States.
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I know there are a few Ichiro haters out there but I gotta say we are very fortunate to have a player of his quality and caliber play his career in Seattle. My brother lives down in San Diego and he has told me a few times that he wished he could see Ich play the way I have seen it. We both were able to watch Tony Gwynn’s accomplishments and he’s a bit jealous of me being able to watch this pure hitter play. I don’t know if Ichiro reads these blogs or not but I am very grateful to him for choosing to stay in Seattle when his contract was up a few years back. He didn’t get an astronomical contract and yet he chose to stay here anyway.
Thanks Ichiro. It’s going to be sheer pleasure watching you finish out your career here.
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