With his patented swing that makes it look as if he is falling out of the batter's box Ichiro Suzuki slapped a single the opposite way in the first inning against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday night. It was a fitting way for the surefire Hall of Famer to get the 4,000th hit of his professional career.
Only two other major leaguers, Pete Rose and Ty Cobb, have broken the 4,000 hit milestone although Ichiro's accomplishment is a bit different; Ichiro played the first nine seasons of his career in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball League. While playing for the Orix Blue Wave Ichiro had 1,278 hits. 2,722 of his hit have been in Major League Baseball, the bulk of those while a member of the Seattle Mariners, according to MLB.com.
"It was supposed to be a night that was special to me," Ichiro told ESPN. "But you know what happened tonight, I wasn't expecting when my teammates came out to first base, that was very special. To see the fans, I wasn't expecting so much joy and happiness from them. That's what made it very special tonight. Not the number, but all the things that happened with it. That came with it. It was very special."
The ten-time All Star made an immediate impact from the minute he came over from Japan winning both the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2001. For much of his career it was thought that Ichiro could be the first player to hit .400 since Ted Williams but the closest he ever came was in 2004 when he hit .372. In addition to being an exceptional hitter Ichiro has won 10 Gold Gloves for his play in the outfield.
Ichiro has been known to take obsessive care of his bats including refusing to let bat boys carry them, according to Jim Caple of ESPN.com.
"Early in his Japanese Career, he lost his temper after an out, threw his bat to the ground in frustration - and then felt such remorse for this abuse that he took the bat back to his hotel room in apology," Caple said. "Call me nuts, but I find that a more compelling story than taking Madonna to your hotel room."
The game was stopped after Ichiro's hit to celebrate the rare feat, a celebration that made Ichiro a little uncomfortable.
"The game was stopped for me and the players came out to first base," Ichiro told MLB.com through a translator. "I kind of felt bad that the game was stopped for me. At first, I was trying to stop them from coming, but it was just because I was so happy and overjoyed with the way they supported me."
The hit was given up by knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, a former teammate of Ichiro's. Dickey told MLB.com that he wishes he wasn't involved in the milestone.
"That being said, what an incredible achievement, and the manner in which he has done it is equally as impressive," Dickey said. "The longevity, the endurance, the durability, having played with him in Seattle - it was a real treat to play with him, and it couldn't have happened to a more professional hitter."
Ichiro is only 278 hits away from reaching 3,000 hits in the United States. Even though he is 39 this year it wouldn't be that surprising to see him able to play a couple more years in order to reach the milestone.
"After I got my first hit, if at that point I said to you guys, 'My goal is to have 4,000 hits,' I think everybody would have called me an idiot," Ichiro said. "Now, after years and years of just getting hits every day, I've come to this point. What is important is just going out there and doing what you can do every single day."
* Stats taken from BaseballReference.com
