Is Ichiro a Top 10 Player Of All-Time?

By: Lou Landers

Any baseball fan should know by now that Ichiro became a member of the 3000 hit club last week. What some may not realize is that he reached the 3000 hit plateau faster than any other player in the last 100 years. When you consider that Ichiro didn’t even come to North America until he was 27 years old, the feat becomes even more incredible.

In his rookie season, Ichiro became only the 2nd player in MLB history to win ROTY & AL MVP, while also helping lead the Mariners to 116 regular season wins.

Career in Japan:

While playing in Japan, Ichiro won 7 consecutive batting titles, collecting 1278 hits and owns a career .353 BA in his home land. He is also the only Japanese born player to reach 3000 career MLB hits and one of only three international players to reach the feat.

MLB Career Highlights:

2001 season (rookie year): 242 hits & 56 SB

2004 season: Records 262 hits setting the all-time single season record in MLB

2001-2010: All-Star representative, Gold glove award winner and 200+ hits every year

Ichiro is the only player in MLB history to reach 3000 hits when making their MLB debut after age 25

Ichiro has only had one day in his MLB career where his career batting average under .300

Ichiro has stated that he wants to play until he’s 50 years old. That would mean he would be playing MLB for another 8 years. If he does indeed play until he’s 50, do you think he could reach the 4000 hit mark?