Ichiro at 2,999 MLB hits

2,533 of them with the Mariners. Admittedly i'm not a huge baseball fan, but after Griffey Jr, Ichiro is my favorite baseball player. He'll be the 30th player with 3,000 hits in MLB. If you add in his professional career in Japan he's at 4,277... the most in history.

Love Ichiro. Not only was he a really good player, but he was a really fun player and had a great sense of humor. Hearing people like Mike Salk talk shit about him makes me want to throw a punch.

kearly":2txk1pvf said:

Love Ichiro. Not only was he a really good player, but he was a really fun player and had a great sense of humor. Hearing people like Mike Salk talk shit about him makes me want to throw a punch.

Click to expand...

What kind of shit do they talk about him? I figured he was pretty beloved up there.

3000th hit...a Triple.

JSeahawks":1j9mee77 said:

kearly":1j9mee77 said:

Love Ichiro. Not only was he a really good player, but he was a really fun player and had a great sense of humor. Hearing people like Mike Salk talk shit about him makes me want to throw a punch.

Click to expand...

What kind of shit do they talk about him? I figured he was pretty beloved up there.

Click to expand...

It's too stupid to mention, but it's mostly a knock on his personality and "entitlement". The usual kind of east coast media drama-mongering BS. Salk is originally out of Boston.

Smurf":c6nxlz53 said:

3000th hit...a Triple.

Click to expand...

Really glad he made it. Years ago it looked like he didn't have a chance.

kearly":173qzvmp said:

JSeahawks":173qzvmp said:

kearly":173qzvmp said:

Love Ichiro. Not only was he a really good player, but he was a really fun player and had a great sense of humor. Hearing people like Mike Salk talk shit about him makes me want to throw a punch.

Click to expand...

What kind of shit do they talk about him? I figured he was pretty beloved up there.

Click to expand...

It's too stupid to mention, but it's mostly a knock on his personality and "entitlement". The usual kind of east coast media drama-mongering BS.

Click to expand...

Especially after he passed on a chance to play in NY for more money to play here on his second contract.

4th player to have 3000 hits and 10 gold gloves.
Willie Mayes, Roberto Clemente, Al Kaline and Ichiro.

kearly":1a7z3520 said:

JSeahawks":1a7z3520 said:

kearly":1a7z3520 said:

Love Ichiro. Not only was he a really good player, but he was a really fun player and had a great sense of humor. Hearing people like Mike Salk talk shit about him makes me want to throw a punch.

Click to expand...

What kind of shit do they talk about him? I figured he was pretty beloved up there.

Click to expand...

It's too stupid to mention, but it's mostly a knock on his personality and "entitlement". The usual kind of east coast media drama-mongering BS. Salk is originally out of Boston.

Click to expand...

What's interesting is in a recent article Ichiro express how he felt like his own teammates were his enemies (was translated) and that Junior, Ibanez and Mike Sweeney all told those teammates to look at their own boxscores and not Ichiro's. Basically, there's a large portion of Mariners Fans that didn't like that Ichiro never changed his style to "help" the team; when they lacked a quality No. 3 Hitter and he was forced into it they viewed it as him not sacrificing his game for the Mariners. His reluctance to move to CF when he was natural RF (RF need a better throwing arm which he possessed) because the Mariners didn't have a better alternative. People complained that he didn't take enough pitches because he was just focused on getting his hits as opposed to letting the people behind him see more pitches to help them out.

In the 10+ years that he was a Mariner, they only made the playoffs once and finished above .500 like 4 times.

There are many people that think that he viewed his hits as more important to the team... which I never really understood because baseball is the most individualistic sport...

The people that love Ichiro outweigh the people that didn't... it's just that the people that didn't are always more vocal about it. It's like the people that "hate" Shaun because they think he wasn't trying until he was in the Redzone.

Ichiro did this starting at 28. That is mindblowing.

As for not sacrificing himself to help the team? Why would that matter if the ownership was actively trying to keep the team from winning too much in the first place?

It is actually amazing as a Mariner fan (*back when I cared at all about the Mariners) that I got to see some of the best baseball players in history. Repeatedly.

We had Griffey, Alex (though he was a complete d*ck in real life), and Randy Johnson. Some of the greatest players ever in their respective positions. Then Ichiro, another clear cut HOF player that could do things that normal players could not.

Being a Mariner fan is pretty close to being a Browns fan, but the difference is you see individual greatness repeatedly - even if the team never does a damn thing.

Ichiro was clearly great. And getting 3000 not on a cheap hit, but a triple.

Imagine if he had started his playing career in the MLB - what his numbers would be?

Don't forget about Edgar he is hall of fame material in my book.