Bloom: Ichiro embraces the magnitude of 4,000 career hits
From SABR member Barry Bloom at MLB.com on June 5, 2013:
Ichiro Suzuki is about to join the pantheon of the baseball gods on a statistical plateau only two other players have passed: 4,000 hits.
Including his infield single in the Yankees’ 6-4 victory over the Indians on Wednesday at Yankee Stadium, Ichiro needs only 67 to match that lofty level.
Considering his legendary durability, it will happen sometime during the months ahead, certainly before the end of the season. True, Ichiro gets there by combining the hits he accumulated playing for Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball in Japan. But it’s a major feat nonetheless.
“Today I’m not thinking about that,” the Yankees outfielder told MLB.com the other day through his latest interpreter, Allen Turner. “I’ve come to this point by doing it this way: day to day, every day. If I could get [67] hits in three or four days, I’d think about it. But it’s still a little bit too far out to be thinking about that.”
No matter what he says, though, he is thinking about that. Just knowing the exact number of hits he currently needs is proof enough.
Read the full article here: http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130605&content_id=49692648
Originally published: June 6, 2013. Last Updated: June 6, 2013.