3,000 Hits!

I could write DAILY Blogs about 鈴木 一朗 (Suzuki, Ichiro) or Ichiro as he's commonly called...
Every time he's up to bat... it's history in the making...



On Tuesday against the Texas Rangers, Ichiro made his 3,000th total hit (1,278 in Japan, 1,722 in America) , in the first inning against Luis Mendoza.
After taking his base and having his Total displayed on the board, he received a standing ovation from the Texas fans which he acknowledged with a tip of his hat.

In Japan, only one player has reached the 3,000 mark 張本 勲 (Isao Harimoto), (Born in Hiroshima, Japan; Nuclear Bomb survivor, Baseball Analyst, Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame member, recipient of the South Korean Moko prize for excellence in sports, and outspoken Hibakusha Movement member)

Isao Harimoto, who hold 3,085 hits, praised Ichiro saying "Congratulations. As far as hitting technique goes, neither Tetsuharu Kawakami (a former pro baseball player known as a batting genius) nor I can match him. It's a marvelous accomplishment!"

"The 3,000th hit is just a passing point for Ichiro. If the number of hits can be combined in the U.S. and Japan, I hope he will aim at the 4,256 hits achieved by Pete Rose, or even 3,000 hits in the Major Leagues alone," Harimoto said.

Pre-game, Jim Riggleman (Mariners Manager) said "That's a tremendous achievement for the short time he's been over here," "I think that’s the most (hits) anyone’s ever had in that period of time."

Currently the 34yrold Ichiro is batting a .298 Batting average (.308 at home, .288 away) with little signs of slowing down.

Really, I don't know what else I can really write...
For further reading see My last post on Ichiro , Mainichi News , Wikipedia (and their LOVELY Photo Gallery) , or just check out his stats on ESPN.

One thing is for certain... I'm sure the hopes and dreams of many school Baseball teams, have become Bigger and Brighter...

*Picture of some players from Suzuka International University (June 10th, 2006)