Ten Years Later, Ichiro is Seattle’s Hit King

It’s been a decade since Ichiro Suzuki made his Major League debut…going 2-for-5 in a 5-4 win against the Oakland Athletics.

But to say a lot has happened to the Seattle Mariners and their Asian import would be an understatement.

In ten full seasons here in the States, Ichiro has averaged a .331 batting average, 224 hits, 105 runs and 38 stolen bases in 159 games per season.

Add to that the ten straight seasons with 200 or more hits, ten consecutive All-Star appearances, ten Gold Gloves, a Rookie of the Year AND an MVP Award and the following isn’t all that mind boggling.

Ichiro is now the Seattle Mariners all-time hit leader.

Yeah, it’s true…and dude accomplished the feat ten years to the day of his debut and that initial hit.

After tying Edgar Martinez’s career total of 2247 hits with an infield single in the third…Ichiro seized control of the Mariners hit record with another infield single in the ninth off of Oakland’s Brian Fuentes.

And in case you’re wondering…Ichiro is already the Mariners career leader in batting average, triples and stolen bases. He needs 426 at-bats to pass Martinez in that category.