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Ichiro Suzuki is a legend and a surefire future Hall of Famer in Major League Baseball, and on Monday night, he reached the kind of milestone that somehow still manages to surprise you. Ichiro, filling in for Marlins’ regular Marcell Ozuna, hit a bloop single in the the fifth inning against the Diamondbacks, and that bloop gave him his 2,873rd hit in the majors, tying him with Babe Ruth on the all-time list.
Ruth and Ichiro are tied for 38th all-time in hits, which is astounding on Ichiro’s side considering he didn’t even join MLB until he was 27 years old. Ruth wasn’t a regular hitter until he was 24, but he had almost 800 plate appearances in the majors -- and 203 hits -- in the years before then, and played until he was 40. Thanks to excellent health -- Ichiro has averaged 157 games per season for his stateside career -- and a tremendous ability to collect hits -- Ichiro ranks 13th all-time in batting average among the 90 players who have amassed as many plate appearances as he has -- he’s been able to close that gap.
Ichiro’s career in hits is even more impressive when you add his Japanese numbers to the mix. He got started in the NPB at 18, and in his nine seasons there batted .353/.421/.522 with 1,278 hits, giving him 4,151 across his entire professional career. That’s more than anyone in history except Ty Cobb (4,191) and Pete Rose (4,256), and Ichiro isn’t so far off from either, even at his age, that you could count him out from surpassing both. It wouldn’t be official, of course, but it would be official in my heart, just like everything else Ichiro has ever done.
- Mat Latos throws a pitch that no one else has ever thrown, because Latos has no idea where it’s going when he throws it.
- Corey Kluber, fresh off striking out 18 batters in eight innings, struck out 12 in nine innings against the White Sox. You will be shocked, but he is leading the American League in strikeouts and strikeout rate after racking up 30 in his last 17 frames.
- You’d never know it by watching his natural awesomeness out in center, but Juan Lagares is only out there because he was a failed shortstop first.
- The Yankees have a bizarre love affair with Stephen Drew that won’t go away, no matter how much he struggles.
- When the Giants’ rotation is healthy again, who gets bumped?
- Mike Redmond has been fired from the Marlins and replaced by general manager Dan Jennings, so now we can start to wonder about who is going to get fired next. Will it be Fredi Gonzalez in Atlanta, or will Bud Black be removed from the helm of the underperforming Padres?
- The Marlins, by the way, are still ludicrous.
- The Orioles are under .500 and have 11 impending free agents, so they’re in a unique position to go all-in on selling should they choose to this summer.
- Speaking of trades, this offseason full of them is not what has caused the A’s to be a disaster in 2015.
- Jon Lester is close to setting an MLB record! Sorry, that exclamation point was kind of deceiving, because the record is “most plate appearances to start a career without recording a hit.”
- With the lineup unexpectedly scuffling, it’s starting to feel like it’s time the Red Sox promote Rusney Castillo to the majors and push Shane Victorino to the bench.
- Sean O’Sullivan was hit in the throat by a ball thrown by his own catcher.
- Avert your children’s eyes if they can read lips, because Josh Donaldson had a pretty rude request made on video during Monday’s Blue Jays’ game.
- An Astros pitcher made his first MLB start, and did it while wearing Batman cleats. How many games would he have been suspended in the NFL for that?
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