This Week in Baseball History: 1/2 – 1/9
The first week of the new year featured the signing of an international superstar by the Mariners, the end of an unintended battle against free agency and the publication of an earth-shattering trade between bitter rivals.
January 3, 1920
On this date, the trade that would send Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox to the New York Yankees for $100,000 would be made public.
January 8, 1981
On this date, the Cincinnati Reds become the last team to sign a free agent. The Reds signed aging outfielder Larry Bittner to a contract, thus ending their unintentional lockout against the free agent market, which began five years prior.
To read more about this historic move and the beginning of free agency, read my previous article.
January 5, 2001
On this date, the Seattle Mariners signed Japanese superstar outfielder Ichiro Suzuki to a three-year contract worth $14,088,000.
In Japan, Ichiro was an outfielder for the Orix Blue Wave in the Japanese Pacific League. When the Mariners signed Ichiro to this deal, they also assumed the responsibility of compensating his former team. Giving up a player with the skills of Ichiro Suzuki was no small decision and the Blue Wave were given $13,000,000 in return for giving up their best player. They were giving up a prolific hitter and a dangerous runner on the base paths. In his nine years as a professional in Japan, he collected 1,278 hits.
Ichiro entered the JPL at the age of 18 and it took him some time to establish himself in the league, but by his third year and age 20 season, Ichiro was among the best players in the league. In his final seven years in the JPL, he had a batting average north of .340 each season with a high of .387 in 2000, his final season in Japan. He also swiped 190 bases in his final seven years.
Ichiro took the United States by storm and won almost every award a rookie could win in the 2001 season. Ichiro collected the American League MVP award and the Rookie of the Year award in his first season stateside. He was also an All-Star and was awarded the Silver Slugger award and Gold Glove award in the same season. As a 27-year-old rookie, Ichiro batted .350 with 242 hits, which was 17 hits short of the major league record. He also stole 56 bases that season. He led the league with 692 at bats, which is not a surprise when you see that he also played 157 games.
Ichiro would lead the league in hits six more times in his career. The most notable time came in the 2004 season in which he collected 262 hits, a single-season major league record. He has eclipsed the 3,000 hit mark in professional baseball with his hit total from the JPL and MLB combined being 4,312. Over the length of his U.S. baseball career, Ichiro has been seen as one of the league’s best hitters. Even in his advancing age he is still playing a respectable game and putting up decent numbers.
Next: Brewers sign Chris Carter to 1-year deal
The signing of Ichiro Suzuki was important step in the addition of more Japanese players in the American game. Since Ichiro, more and more Asian players are coming to the game and it goes to show that baseball is alive and strong half way across the world.