Ichiro!

In response to a request for more baseball blogging. . .

Ichiro Suzuki became the first player to get 200 hits in each of his first four major league seasons last night. The 200th hit came on a home run. Ichiro is now on pace for 257 hits, which would match George Sisler’s eighty-four year old record. After hitting .255 in April, Ichiro has destroyed the American League, hitting .400 in May, .432 in July, and .449 in August.

If he keeps up his current pace, 2004 will prove Ichiro’s best year in the majors. Unlike Hideki Matsui, who has played much better this year than last, Ichiro has slowed down slightly in each of the last two years. His .364 average, .406 on base percentage, and .459 slugging percentage are all the best in his major league career.

Ichiro’s hunt for 258 may serve to (poorly) obscure the rest of the Mariner’s season. In 2001, the Mariners signed an aging semi-star, Bret Boone, to a $3 million, one year contract. Boone proceeded to have one of the best three year runs in the history of American League second basemen. Unfortunately, this convinced Mariner management that trying to sign “good” players who made lots of “money” was a bad idea, and instead that they should concentrate on aging semi-stars and hope for the best. When Bill Bavasi took over as general manager he ran with this strategy, resulting in the acquisition of Scott Spiezio, Raul Ibanez, and Rich Aurilia, none of whom were as talented even as Bret Boone. The results have exceed the worst projections, as the Mariners are currently half a game ahead of the Kansas City Royals in the contest for second worst team in the American League.

It is a dreadful thing that some of the most important parts of my life have been committed to men like Bill Bavasi and George W. Bush.