Ichiro

Tonight Ichiro Suzuki finally broke George Sissler's hits record. There's been a lot of discussion about this record on the SABR lists:

• It's not a very important record, as evidenced by the awful season the Mariners are having


• Ichiro can only hit singles, and isn't helping his team as much as he could


• Ichiro is so awesome, he can aim the ball where ever he wants


• Ichiro is terrible because even though he can hit for power, he chooses to hit singles


• This is a great accomplishment

As you can see, opinions are quite varied. Personally, I think it's quite an accomplishment. I've always been awed by Ichiro's ability to make contact and get on base, especially since he's half way to first when he makes contact. You obviously can't accumulate 258 hits unless you are consistent and healthy, which is exactly what Ichiro's been this year. Think about it. There are 162 games in a season. Most hitters hit around .250 (even number for calculations). So assuming they bat 4 times a game, they'd get one hit per game - 162 hits for the season. But only if they played every game. Ichiro has 258 hits with 2 games left to play. And I know he hasn't played every game because he missed at least one when a Royals pitcher (don't remember which) beaned him in the head with a pitch, thus demonstrating how much control our pitchers have.

Ichiro's record is astonishing and he will hopefully be remembered a little better than Sissler has been.