SEATTLE -- Ichiro Suzuki set the major-league record for hits in a season with 258, breaking George Sisler's 84-year-old mark with a pair of singles Friday night.
The Mariner's star chopped a leadoff single in the first inning, then made history with a grounder up the middle in the third.
Fireworks went off at Safeco Field after the ball reached the outfield, and Suzuki's teammates mobbed him at first base as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira shook the Japanese outfielder's hand.
With the fans still cheering, Suzuki ran over to the first-base seats and embraced Sisler's 81-year-old daughter, Frances Sisler Drochelman.
AP NEWS
The Mariner's star chopped a leadoff single in the first inning, then made history with a grounder up the middle in the third.
Fireworks went off at Safeco Field after the ball reached the outfield, and Suzuki's teammates mobbed him at first base as the crowd gave him a standing ovation. Texas first baseman Mark Teixeira shook the Japanese outfielder's hand.
With the fans still cheering, Suzuki ran over to the first-base seats and embraced Sisler's 81-year-old daughter, Frances Sisler Drochelman.
AP NEWS
Ichiro with 60+ infield hits this yr...Has anyone ever hit semi-routine ground balls to the left side and routinely beat them out like Suzuki? No wonder he has 258 hits he must get up the line in 3.4 secs...fastest i recall was Griffey Sr.(long before he was known as Sr.) 3.6 ......I'm sure Micky Mantle got up the line in the low to mid 3's as well....
:nuts: :ughhh: :increible Ichiro Suzuki brightened a dismal baseball season in Japan.
His countrymen celebrated Suzuki's record-breaking hit Saturday when the Seattle Mariners outfielder broke George Sisler's 84-year-old major league mark for hits in a season.
Suzkui chopped a leadoff single in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field to tie Sisler, then made history with a grounder up the middle in the third -- his 258th hit of the season.
"He's incredible," said Shigeru Uchida, who joined other fans in front of a downtown Tokyo electronics store that was showing the game on TV. "Baseball is America's game and for him to go over there and do that is truly amazing."
It was about noon local time when fans gathered at sports bars throughout the nation's capital and at the city hall in Suzuki's hometown in Aichi prefecture to watch the game played Friday night in Seattle.
With the merger of Suzuki's former team -- the Orix BlueWave -- and a subsequent players' strike that lasted two days, it's been a gloomy baseball season in Japan.
Japan finished a disappointing third in baseball at the Olympics with a team of stars from the professional leagues who were supposed to bring home the gold. In March, legendary former player and manager Shigeo Nagashima suffered a stroke that prevented him from going to Athens.
But Suzuki's assault on Sisler's record, which has been followed down to every last at-bat for the past month, has given Japanese baseball fans something to feel good about.
"There has been a lot of bad news in the baseball world here this year," office worker Yayoi Sugaya said. "Ichiro has given us a reason to be happy and proud and is living proof that hard work pays off."
Players who faced Suzuki over the years in Japan were also impressed.
"He's definitely the greatest hitter in baseball," said Yomiuri Giants outfielder Tuffy Rhodes, who played against Suzuki when the two were in the Pacific League. "From the first time I saw him, it was obvious to me that he wanted to play in the major leagues."
While playing for the BlueWave, Suzuki won seven straight Pacific League batting titles before signing with the Mariners. He holds the Japanese season record for hits with 210 in 1994.
Other Japanese players such as Hideo Nomo and Hideki Matsui have succeeded in the majors but none to the extent Suzuki has.
Three years ago, Suzuki set the major league rookie record for hits in a season -- his 234th hit breaking the previous mark set by Shoeless Joe Jackson with Cleveland in 1911. Suzuki finished with 242 hits and a .350 batting average and was named the American League Rookie of the Year.
SFGate.com
His countrymen celebrated Suzuki's record-breaking hit Saturday when the Seattle Mariners outfielder broke George Sisler's 84-year-old major league mark for hits in a season.
Suzkui chopped a leadoff single in the first inning against the Texas Rangers at Safeco Field to tie Sisler, then made history with a grounder up the middle in the third -- his 258th hit of the season.
"He's incredible," said Shigeru Uchida, who joined other fans in front of a downtown Tokyo electronics store that was showing the game on TV. "Baseball is America's game and for him to go over there and do that is truly amazing."
It was about noon local time when fans gathered at sports bars throughout the nation's capital and at the city hall in Suzuki's hometown in Aichi prefecture to watch the game played Friday night in Seattle.
With the merger of Suzuki's former team -- the Orix BlueWave -- and a subsequent players' strike that lasted two days, it's been a gloomy baseball season in Japan.
Japan finished a disappointing third in baseball at the Olympics with a team of stars from the professional leagues who were supposed to bring home the gold. In March, legendary former player and manager Shigeo Nagashima suffered a stroke that prevented him from going to Athens.
But Suzuki's assault on Sisler's record, which has been followed down to every last at-bat for the past month, has given Japanese baseball fans something to feel good about.
"There has been a lot of bad news in the baseball world here this year," office worker Yayoi Sugaya said. "Ichiro has given us a reason to be happy and proud and is living proof that hard work pays off."
Players who faced Suzuki over the years in Japan were also impressed.
"He's definitely the greatest hitter in baseball," said Yomiuri Giants outfielder Tuffy Rhodes, who played against Suzuki when the two were in the Pacific League. "From the first time I saw him, it was obvious to me that he wanted to play in the major leagues."
While playing for the BlueWave, Suzuki won seven straight Pacific League batting titles before signing with the Mariners. He holds the Japanese season record for hits with 210 in 1994.
Other Japanese players such as Hideo Nomo and Hideki Matsui have succeeded in the majors but none to the extent Suzuki has.
Three years ago, Suzuki set the major league rookie record for hits in a season -- his 234th hit breaking the previous mark set by Shoeless Joe Jackson with Cleveland in 1911. Suzuki finished with 242 hits and a .350 batting average and was named the American League Rookie of the Year.
SFGate.com
Ichiro Suzuki tips his cap to the crowd after hitting a single in the third inning against the Rangers. Suzuki set the major league record for hits in a season with 258.</ID>
Ichiro Suzuki is greeted by Francis Sisler Drochelman, George Sisler's daughter, after Suzuki hit a ball into centerfield which broke George Sisler's record.</ID>
I have nothing against Suzuki. Congrats to him a great season.
When American export players get close to the home run record in Japan, thay are pitched around for as long as it takes to ensure the record is not broken. Just a fact.
as far as the the comments I made, I admit I am not as forgiving as most for the actions of Japan to start a war against the USA and kill hundreds of thousands of people. I'm not as forgiving as most for Japanese treatment of allied POW's, which includes many English and Dutch as well as Americans. Revisionist history for those who forget. Sorry, I know my pro-American stance is completely out of touch with the times, but I do not hate the USA.
yep thats a long time ago. My comments are tounge in cheek to a great extent Its all over. I admit though I have some residue of dislike towards Japan but in general my philosophy is certainly live and let live.
If anyone has any questions about my stance, please read the book " Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides and then the book about the Los Banos raid. I cant remember the title of that one, but it dealt with civilian internees of the Japanese.
When American export players get close to the home run record in Japan, thay are pitched around for as long as it takes to ensure the record is not broken. Just a fact.
as far as the the comments I made, I admit I am not as forgiving as most for the actions of Japan to start a war against the USA and kill hundreds of thousands of people. I'm not as forgiving as most for Japanese treatment of allied POW's, which includes many English and Dutch as well as Americans. Revisionist history for those who forget. Sorry, I know my pro-American stance is completely out of touch with the times, but I do not hate the USA.
yep thats a long time ago. My comments are tounge in cheek to a great extent Its all over. I admit though I have some residue of dislike towards Japan but in general my philosophy is certainly live and let live.
If anyone has any questions about my stance, please read the book " Ghost Soldiers" by Hampton Sides and then the book about the Los Banos raid. I cant remember the title of that one, but it dealt with civilian internees of the Japanese.
For Cabrera, 55 was the limit in Japan
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Caple
ESPN.com
Each day during the major league All-Star tour of Japan, Hideki Matsui held press briefings with Japanese and American reporters. One night he dueled Barry Bonds in a home run derby. Each game, the fans chanted for him to hit a home run. Late in the tour, the Yankees flew in club officials to take a look at him.
Alex Cabrera's 55 homers led the Japan Pacific League in 2002.
Meanwhile, the co-holder of Japan's single-season home run record went relatively unnoticed despite hitting distant home runs. No one arranged press conferences for him. No one set him up in a competition with Bonds. The Yankees did not negotiate a cable TV deal designed to lure him to New York.
Which was no surprise to Alex Cabrera. "You remember what country I'm in right now?" he said before a game in Osaka.
If Cabrera ever was allowed to forget where he was, he could be forgiven because he's played in virtually every country where there is professional baseball. The 30-year-old Venezuelan has played in his home country, Mexico, the United States, Taiwan and Japan. He played briefly in the majors, hitting .263 with five home runs in 80 at-bats for the Diamondbacks in 2000. Arizona sold his contract to the Seibu Lions the next winter.
He hit 49 home runs in 2001. He hit 55 this season, tying the record originally set by Japanese baseball icon Sadaharu Oh. He should have broken the record but that's not the way it works in Japan.
"They didn't want me to get the record," Cabrera said. "The last 20 at-bats of the season, I think I only saw one strike. All records are for the Japanese. All my teammates wanted me to break the record. A lot of the players on other teams wanted me to break it, too.
"The pitchers want to throw me strikes but the managers and coaches don't let them. The pitchers hit me and throw in my face. I say, 'It's part of the game -- throw strikes. Be professional.'
"Here, if you hit a home run your first at-bat, they walk you the next three. In America, you get a chance to hit more home runs. They challenge you."
He might want to talk to Bonds about that.
Teams walked Bonds plenty when he approached Mark McGwire's home run record, but the crucial difference is they didn't use that strategy to keep him from breaking the record; they did it to keep him from driving in runs to beat them. Not so with Cabrera, nor with the other non-Japanese sluggers who came before him. This has been going on a long time in Japan.
"Tuffy Rhodes told me the same thing," Cabrera said. "He said, 'You get to 55, they'll not let you break it.' "
“ If someone gives me a chance in the majors, I'll hit more than 40 jacks. If I have a chance to go back to America, I will. If someone calls me, I go. ”
— Alex Cabrera
In 1985, Randy Bass hit 54 home runs and would have broken Oh's record but the closer he got to it, the fewer strikes he received. Last year Rhodes hit 55 home runs but got no further, either. This year it was Cabrera's turn.
By the most amazing of coincidences, Oh was the opposing manager during final-week games when each player stopped getting pitches to hit. Cabrera charges that he was told Oh threatened to fine pitchers $10,000 if they threw Cabrera a strike, though publicly, at least, Oh ordered his pitchers to throw strikes to Cabrera, who hit home run No. 54 against them. He hit only one more in the final seven games, and in one game he was hit once and walked twice.
"In the past there has been more of that sort of unfairness," Matsui said, sympathizing with Cabrera. "But it has been decreasing in the last couple years and I just hope that in the future it will get better."
The knock on Cabrera in the U.S. was that he couldn't hit the curveball. He says that's nonsense and says he would like to return to the majors to prove his hitting isn't restricted to one side of the international dateline.
"If someone gives me a chance in the majors, I'll hit more than 40 jacks," he said. "If I have a chance to go back to America, I will. If someone calls me, I go."
Well, maybe. Although Cabrera says he holds the option on his contract for next season, Japanese papers reported that it was the other way around. And major league teams are unlikely to pay him as much money as he earns in Japan.
So Cabrera could very well stay in Japan, taking pitchers deep and looking for strikes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Jim Caple
ESPN.com
Each day during the major league All-Star tour of Japan, Hideki Matsui held press briefings with Japanese and American reporters. One night he dueled Barry Bonds in a home run derby. Each game, the fans chanted for him to hit a home run. Late in the tour, the Yankees flew in club officials to take a look at him.
Alex Cabrera's 55 homers led the Japan Pacific League in 2002.
Meanwhile, the co-holder of Japan's single-season home run record went relatively unnoticed despite hitting distant home runs. No one arranged press conferences for him. No one set him up in a competition with Bonds. The Yankees did not negotiate a cable TV deal designed to lure him to New York.
Which was no surprise to Alex Cabrera. "You remember what country I'm in right now?" he said before a game in Osaka.
If Cabrera ever was allowed to forget where he was, he could be forgiven because he's played in virtually every country where there is professional baseball. The 30-year-old Venezuelan has played in his home country, Mexico, the United States, Taiwan and Japan. He played briefly in the majors, hitting .263 with five home runs in 80 at-bats for the Diamondbacks in 2000. Arizona sold his contract to the Seibu Lions the next winter.
He hit 49 home runs in 2001. He hit 55 this season, tying the record originally set by Japanese baseball icon Sadaharu Oh. He should have broken the record but that's not the way it works in Japan.
"They didn't want me to get the record," Cabrera said. "The last 20 at-bats of the season, I think I only saw one strike. All records are for the Japanese. All my teammates wanted me to break the record. A lot of the players on other teams wanted me to break it, too.
"The pitchers want to throw me strikes but the managers and coaches don't let them. The pitchers hit me and throw in my face. I say, 'It's part of the game -- throw strikes. Be professional.'
"Here, if you hit a home run your first at-bat, they walk you the next three. In America, you get a chance to hit more home runs. They challenge you."
He might want to talk to Bonds about that.
Teams walked Bonds plenty when he approached Mark McGwire's home run record, but the crucial difference is they didn't use that strategy to keep him from breaking the record; they did it to keep him from driving in runs to beat them. Not so with Cabrera, nor with the other non-Japanese sluggers who came before him. This has been going on a long time in Japan.
"Tuffy Rhodes told me the same thing," Cabrera said. "He said, 'You get to 55, they'll not let you break it.' "
“ If someone gives me a chance in the majors, I'll hit more than 40 jacks. If I have a chance to go back to America, I will. If someone calls me, I go. ”
— Alex Cabrera
In 1985, Randy Bass hit 54 home runs and would have broken Oh's record but the closer he got to it, the fewer strikes he received. Last year Rhodes hit 55 home runs but got no further, either. This year it was Cabrera's turn.
By the most amazing of coincidences, Oh was the opposing manager during final-week games when each player stopped getting pitches to hit. Cabrera charges that he was told Oh threatened to fine pitchers $10,000 if they threw Cabrera a strike, though publicly, at least, Oh ordered his pitchers to throw strikes to Cabrera, who hit home run No. 54 against them. He hit only one more in the final seven games, and in one game he was hit once and walked twice.
"In the past there has been more of that sort of unfairness," Matsui said, sympathizing with Cabrera. "But it has been decreasing in the last couple years and I just hope that in the future it will get better."
The knock on Cabrera in the U.S. was that he couldn't hit the curveball. He says that's nonsense and says he would like to return to the majors to prove his hitting isn't restricted to one side of the international dateline.
"If someone gives me a chance in the majors, I'll hit more than 40 jacks," he said. "If I have a chance to go back to America, I will. If someone calls me, I go."
Well, maybe. Although Cabrera says he holds the option on his contract for next season, Japanese papers reported that it was the other way around. And major league teams are unlikely to pay him as much money as he earns in Japan.
So Cabrera could very well stay in Japan, taking pitchers deep and looking for strikes
