July 9
New York Times
columnist Benjamin Hoffman
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It was April 2001, and I had gone to Oakland Coliseum to see what the big deal was with the new Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki. In the eighth inning, I found out. On a single to right field by Athletics catcher Ramon Hernandez, Terrence Long attempted to go from first to third. When Suzuki came up with the ball, he steadied himself and fired the ball to third on a low, hard line drive that shot like a laser out of his arm. The ball landed perfectly in third baseman David Bell's glove, and Long was out by a wide margin. It was a jaw-dropping event, a play you tell your grandchildren about years later. And if I ever have a grandchild, I plan to do just that."
June 27
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
columnist Norman Chad
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As you grow older - and I started growing older earlier than most people, sometime in junior high - you grasp onto a handful of things to feel safe and comfortable. I no longer have my boyhood exuberance for baseball, but I still enjoy cherry-picking the box scores, whether online or in the morning newspaper, looking for tidbits of joy. Over the last decade, Ichiro Suzuki has been my guaranteed daily morsel of joy. This year, that agate-type happiness is being threatened - perhaps by the ravages of time. In all 10 of his seasons with the Seattle Mariners since coming to Major League Baseball from Japan at age 27, Ichiro has batted over .300 and accumulated at least 200 hits. As we reach"
June 14
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro and Chone Figgins have been the anonymous but obvious subjects of Seattle Mariners manager Eric Wedge's season-long proclamation that there are veterans on his team who need to perform better. The statements are sometimes vague — the veterans need to get it going. We're doing the same damn things over and over again. If the veterans could only pick it up … — but there is little secret as to the identity of the players for which those words are intended (though you can likely throw Jack Cust in there, too). Wedge has addressed Figgins and Ichiro by name on numerous occasions, speaking openly about their struggles to date, but typically groups them subtly into the category of"
September 23
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki reached the 200-hits mark for the 10th straight year Thursday with a fifth inning single to center against Toronto Blue Jays starter Shawn Hill. Ichiro, 36, who entered the game with 198 hits, struck out in the first inning and doubled in the third inning. He grounded out to pitcher in the seventh inning. He is the only player in major league history to get 200 hits in 10 straight seasons, and now holds the American League record for most 200-hit seasons. He surpasses Ty Cobb, who had nine in 24 seasons for the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics. Pete Rose reached the mark 10 times – but not consecutively – in 24 National League seasons for the"
July 29
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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Ichiro Suzuki is trying to reach 200 hits for his 10th consecutive season, but is still 73 hits short after slumping since the All-Star break. He has only nine hits in 52 at-bats since the break while hitting .173 in that span. Only one of his 22 hits this month, a double on July 15, has been for extra bases. He was hitting .360 on May 15, but his batting average has dropped to .307 after an 0-for-4 game on Tuesday against the Chicago White Sox. It takes roughly 34 hits a month to have a 200-hit season, but Ichiro only has 22 hits this month with four games remaining. Another interesting stat is that he has only four multi-hit games in July. He had 12 in April, 13 in May and 11 in June."
July 4
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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In a bit of a surprise, the Seattle Mariners had only two players named to the American League All-Star team. Yes, they are in last place in the American League West, but it seemed as though Seattle might get three players on the team this year. Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and pitcher Cliff Lee were obvious choices to make the team, however Felix Hernandez was somewhat surprisingly left off the 13-man pitching staff. "I'm very proud of both Cliff and Ichiro. I think they are both deserving and will do a tremendous job representing the Mariners and the American League," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "Both guys work very hard, every day, on preparing to be successful. It is great to see that"
April 7
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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One game into the new season, Chone Figgins is on pace to steal 324 bases, Ichiro Suzuki 162 - and they need to fix a few things. No. 1, Ichiro needs to let Figgins know when he's about to take off - and opening night was the perfect example. Ichiro stole second base and, with Figgins at the plate and a 3-1 count, Ichiro lit out for third, where he was called out on a close play. Would it have made any difference if Figgy knew Ichiro was going? "If Ichiro lets Figgins know, Figgins can square around at the plate and force the third baseman to make a choice - charge the plate or play back," manager Don Wakamatsu said. "Most third baseman are going to come in, and if they don't and Figgins"
March 13
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
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When Ichiro Suzuki entered the league back in '01 he was far from unknown, underappreciated, or underrated. In fact if anything for a guy who had never played a MLB game, there might have been a better argument he was overrated. Since then Ichiro has slowly but steadily fallen out of the spotlight and has become virtually untalked about all around baseball. My question is, why? He has nine MLB seasons and has already broken 2,000 career hits, and he has a career .333 batting average, which in this era is every bit as good as Ty Cobb's career .366 average, which was in an era where baseball and pitching wasn't nearly where it is today. Also since then baseball has become a traveling mans"