daigo.org RSS‘Ichi’ means Number One
He did it. He hit number 258. In the third inning of the game against the Texas Rangers Friday night, Seattle Mariner’s right fielder, Ichiro Suzuki hit a single up the middle. And with that, he broke the 84-year-old major league single-season hits record, set by St. Louis Browns first baseman, George Sisler in 1920.
I grew up in Japan, in a neighboring town from where Ichiro grew up. He was a year older than me and I remember when he competed in the national high school baseball tournament, called koshi-en, when I was in the 11th grade. He was a pitcher then. A year after that, he was drafted by Orix BlueWave, and became an outfielder. In 1994, he changed his on-field name to his first name “Ichiro” and set a new single-season hits record for Japanese Pro Baseballl League. He also set new record of safely reaching base for 69 consecutive games, and flirted with the possibility of being first batter to hit .400.
He was, for seven years in a row, both a batting champ and Gold Glove winner for the Pacific League, from 1994-2000. He was named MVP three times during that span, helping the team win the league twice.
He signed with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. Ichiro is the first position player from Japan to cross over to the majors. The entire nation of Japan was watching his every move. I remember reading that there were 100 media members from Japan following him in spring training. And they had to report something new on him, everyday. Now, that’s pressure. Everyone expected him to do well. Meanwhile he had to change his lifestyle, learn a new language and culture, eat different food, deal with the crazy travel (by Japanese standards) in the US, and play 30 more games per season.
Added together, that is not an easy thing to do.
I remember his first year very well. It was a huge deal for Japanese baseball fans. I was living here in Boston. The Red Sox had another Japanese pioneer player, Hideo Nomo. I saw the “Dream Match” (as it was billed by Japanese media) at Fenway Park. There really were like 100 Japanese media there. It was a zoo. Both Ichiro and Nomo were the pride of Japan.
And he did it. That year, under that intense pressure, he hit a single right past the pitcher in his first Major League at bat, and went on to win the American League batting title and the most stolen bases title. In the All-Star game, he beat Randy Johnson to the bag to get an infield single. He was awarded Rookie of the Year and MVP.
He is the kind of player that is very exciting to watch. He is the true lead off hitter because he gets on base. He is so fast he turns a “routine ground ball” into a hit. He makes a baseball fan like myself, little league kids in Japan and US, and young aspiring players alike, say “Wow!” And that is why I like baseball. As a young kid, I had a Chunichi Dragons (my home team) player’s poster on my wall. And watching Ichiro play brings back the feeling of awe and amazement I felt growing up.
On the personal level, It is great to see his success. Although I admit if the Mariners were in the playoffs to face my beloved Red Sox, I would have written this a lot differently, it really cheers me up to see that he is doing so well far away from home. When more players like him from all over the world come to the Major Leagues, we can truly call the championship game a “World Series.”
