Ichiro Suzuki usually known simply as Ichiro (born October 22, 1973), is a Japanese-born professional baseball outfielder who currently plays for the New York Yankees. Originally a player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Ichiro moved to the United States in 2001 to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, with whom he spent 11 seasons. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including MLB's single-season record for hits with 262. He had 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player, surpassing Wee Willie Keeler's streak of eight. Between his career hits in Japan's and America's major leagues, Ichiro stands at third place all-time in top-flight hits, trailing only Pete Rose and Ty Cobb.
Before playing in the MLB, Ichiro played nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League. Posted by Orix after the 2000 season, Ichiro became Seattle's right fielder. The first Japanese-born position player to be signed to the major leagues, Ichiro led the American League (AL) in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL Most Valuable Player (MVP).
Ichiro is the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (The Golden Players Club). He is a ten-time All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run. Ichiro won a Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten years in the major leagues, and has had seven hitting streaks of 20 or more games, with a high of 27.
NPB statistics
Batting average
.353
Home runs
204
Runs batted in
529
Hits
1,278
Runs
658
Stolen bases
199
MLB statistics
(through 2013 season)
Batting average
.319
Home runs
111
Runs batted in
695
Hits
2,742
Runs
1,261
Stolen bases
472
Career highlights and awards
NPB
7× NPB All-Star (1994–2000)
3× PL MVP (1994–1996)
7× Golden Glove Award (1994–2000)
7× Best Nine Award (1994–2000)
3× Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1994–1995, 2004)
3× Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (1994–1995, 2001)
7× PL Batting Champion (1994–2000)
5× PL Safe Hit Champion (1994–1998)
5× PL On-base Champion (1994–1996, 1999–2000)
1995 PL Stolen Base Champion
1995 PL RBI Champion
Japan Series Champion (1996)
MLB
10× All-Star (2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010)
10× Gold Glove Award (2001–2010)
3× Silver Slugger Award (2001, 2007, 2009)
2× AL batting champion (2001, 2004)
AL MVP (2001)
AL Rookie of the Year (2001)
AL stolen base leader (2001)
Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award (2005)
MLB All-Star Game MVP (2007)
MLB Records
262 hits, single season
225 singles, single season
Baseball Achievements
4,000 hits combined in NPB and MLB
*from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ichiro_Suzuki
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