In the middle of an improbable resurgence with the Marlins at the age of 42, Suzuki achieved the feat against the Colorado Rockies on his fourth at-bat of the day when he slugged a triple off the right-field wall in the seventh inning in Denver, Colorado.
Advertisement
Ichiro came to the plate in the seventh with the same routine he had in his three at-bats that day and more than 10,000 plate appearances in 16 major league seasons. I’ve really got to get back on track to where I was. Today, I was more happy for the people around me. In typical Ichiro fashion, he made his 3,000 a triple. It’s about my teammates and the fans. Paxton was in total command before a liner off the bat of Angels shortstop Andrelton Simmons hit him flush in the left elbow.
The hits kept on coming, but winning didn’t, unfortunately. He honors our game with everything he does.
The game paused ever briefly, with the Coors Field crowd of 40,875 giving Ichiro another round of applause and the scoreboard displaying a graphic noting the moment. Everything he does is a tribute to the game of baseball. He’s a leader among our guys. Suzuki’s 3,000th was a triple, making him only one of two players whose 3000th hit was also a triple. Cabrera is on pace to have about 59 more hits this year, so he’d enter 2017 about 482 hits short of 3,000, about three seasons or so at his current pace.
Fellow slap-hitting artist Dee Gordon led the charge of Marlins who visited Ichiro on third base to congratulate him.
“Obviously, I wanted to see it go over the fence, ” Ichiro said. “I have a special relationship with him and having something like this, that is the same thing he accomplished, makes it more special”.
On Sunday, Ichiro got his 3,000th Major League hit, a triple in the seventh inning of the Marlins’ game against the Rockies in Colorado off Chris Rusin.
All of the other players with 3,000 hits are in the Baseball Hall of Fame with the exception of Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez, who are not yet eligible, as well as Rose and Palmeiro.
– Ichiro, Henderson (2003 with Padres) and Craig Biggio (2007 with Astros) are the last three National Leaguers to reach the 3,000 Hit Club, and all did so against the Rockies.
Ichiro tied late Pittsburgh Pirates’ great Roberto Clemente for 29th place on baseball’s all-time hit list. Next up is Al Kaline at 3,007 and Wade Boggs at 3,010.
The Giants played a close game on Sunday, allowing only two hits but somehow managing to lose 1-0 to the Washington Nationals.
“It’s been a battle the last couple of weeks, actually”, Gray said. Only getting a pinch hit every night…that was tough. “I feel like I haven’t been able to do that as much as I would like lately”. Even so, as long as Fernandez stays healthy, he soon will hit the lottery because his pitching prowess is unquestioned.
Advertisement
“It’s wonderful, what he’s done”. “That’s a lot of hits, and you have to play a long time”, adding, it shows “how they’ve worked and persevered and continue to take care of their bodies”, Mattingly said.
