I can’t tell you how many times he told me he’d like to see him in a Yankees uniform.
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He also opened his Major League Baseball career with a record 10 consecutive seasons of more than 200 hits.
Nolan Arenado homered twice and drove in five runs for Colorado. Charlie Blackmon singled home a run in the third, and the Rockies added two runs in the fourth against Adam Conley (8-6). Fernando Rodney, the fifth Marlins’ pitcher, worked the ninth to earn his 18th save this season and first with the Marlins.
Jon Gray (8-5) was roughed up for eight runs on 10 hits in 3 2-3 innings.
After three forgettable at-bats, Suzuki tripled off the out-of-town scoreboard in right field to become the 30th major league player to reach 3,000 hits. “But after that hit, my body was lifted up”.
Miami players along with third-base coach Lorenzo Bundy rushed out of the dugout and congratulated the player.
The anticipation of history being made was unmistakably present around Coors Field all Sunday afternoon. Taking advantage of his exquisite bat control and his speed, Suzuki delivered the ball to positions where no fielder stood, accumulating hits in a way that no one could imitate. “That’s what you’re supposed to do: show him his respect, show him that we respect his milestone”. “I felt like if I was able to do that, it would really show what kind of level we have in Japan”. Suzuki’s teammates poured out of the dugout to celebrate the moment. “I remember watching him growing up as a kid”, Rusin said.
The Marlins plan to honor Ichiro briefly the next time he comes to the plate at Marlins Park, with a bigger celebration planned for before the game on September 25th against the Atlanta Braves. However, after that day’s game, Suzuki went hitless for seven straight games before finally hitting 2,999 on Saturday.
That sum total has resulted in some U.S. voices, saying it is not in the same class as that of the legendary Pete Rose, who garnered his Major League record 4,256 hits over a 24-year career, mostly with the Cincinnati Reds.
Ichiro made his Major League Baseball debut with the Seattle Mariners and went on to became only the second player to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in the same season.
“I’ve been feeling this for the last two weeks, not getting an opportunity to get in there and getting a pinch hit every night, that was tough”, he said.
An even smaller subgroup exists: Players who recorded 3,000 or more hits within a 16-year window. “It’s something I think I’ll enjoy once I become a grandpa”.
The 42-year-old Suzuki got his big hit in the seventh inning.
Ichiro was on base after hitting a triple which … and I’m not sure if this news has gotten around yet … was the 3,000th of his career. Suzuki said he still wants to see more Japanese players make the leap to Major League Baseball.
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Rose, who has been an admirer of Ichiro’s, bristled at that suggestion, saying the Japanese stats could not be counted equally with a major league total.
