What remains for Ichiro Suzuki to play for?
Sep 23, 2014; Bronx, NY, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Ichiro Suzuki (31) reacts to striking out against the Baltimore Orioles during the sixth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports
It has been four full seasons since Ichiro Suzuki last hit .300. Set to turn 42 before the close of the 2015 MLB season, the Japanese born ten-time All-Star has had one thing evade him throughout the duration of his baseball days in America: a World Series ring. But is that what continues to fuel his fire?
Ichiro won AL ROY honors in 2001 while with the Seattle Mariners. That was the same year the M’s finished tied for an MLB best 116 wins in the regular season with the 1906 Chicago Cubs.
He was also named AL MVP that same year, hitting a remarkable .350 while registering a hefty 692 at-bats. Ichiro led the league with 242 hits, 36 more than second place qualifiers Aaron Boone and Rich Aurilia. He finished first in league-wide stolen bases with 56 and crossed home plate safely 127 times, the second-highest amount for any player in the AL.
While the individual accolades piled up for Ichiro in that Mariners season as well as many others, 2001 was the year he came closest to being a world champion. The M’s lost four games to one against the New York Yankees in the ALCS. It would be over a decade later in 2012 when Ichiro would again play in another ALCS, this time as a member of the Yankees. Only then, the Bronx Bombers could not muster a single win as they were swept by the Detroit Tigers.
Ichiro is rumored to be signing a one-year incentive laden contract with a base salary of $2 million to play for the Miami Marlins in 2015. Though the team made a number of moves that may signal toward them being contenders in the NL East this season, the Washington Nationals are still the clear favorites to repeat as division champions.
Before factoring in the Marlins’ figure, Ichiro has made over $159 million in career earnings playing baseball in America. Why didn’t Ichiro take less or similar money to play for a club with a better chance of reaching the postseason? Were there no other offers on the table? The fact he is not signing with an AL team where he could get occasional plate opportunities as a designated hitter leads one to believe that a call was never placed to his agent.
Various credible sources have reported Ichiro was a selfish player during his days in Seattle. Though a championship undoubtedly held some appeal to the man, it seems personal accomplishments were typically at the forefront of his mind.
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It is for that reason I believe Ichiro has chosen to become the fourth outfielder in Miami in order to edge all the more closer to 3,000 career hits. As the BBWAA showed us with Craig Biggio mere weeks ago, 3000 career hits is essentially a free pass to the Hall of Fame. There are exceptions (Rafael Palmeiro and more notably, Pete Rose), but Ichiro played his games clean for a decent chunk of an era when steroids ran rampant in the league.
Ichiro collected numerous personal accolades in years past, but baseball immortality in Cooperstown is the ultimate bestowment upon any player. Perhaps without the 3000 hits, he feels he may not reach that goal. Or maybe the goal is to be an undeniable first ballot Hall of Famer, possibly even the first ever unanimous one.
It took Biggio nearly 19 seasons, over 10,630 at-bats and 2781 games played to reach the mark. Ichiro is presently at 2844 hits through only 14 full seasons, 8964 at-bats and 2204 games, an astonishing feat . He could very well be one Giancarlo Stanton, Christian Yelich or Marcell Ozuna injury away from getting every day at-bats in 2015 and reaching the milestone. If that is his hope, it is indeed a selfish one to put personal goals ahead of teammates health and overall organizational success, though I doubt it is.
Instead, Ichiro will probably get 80-100 hits as a platoon player in 2015. Maybe more, if he hits a hot stretch and manager Mike Redmond can’t bring himself to bench the aging veteran.
The greater likelihood instead will be the storyline casting Ichiro on the precipice of 3,000 hits in MLB’s 2016 campaign. Surely there will be a team out there willing to accommodate him. Fittingly so would be for him to sign a one-year contract in Seattle where he will most likely go on to be the second (after Ken Griffey Jr. becomes eligible next year) player to wear a Mariners cap on his plaque in Cooperstown. Or possibly third, if Edgar Martinez is ever to get elected with four more years left on the ballot.
In the meantime, Ichiro will strive to reach 3,000 hits this upcoming season. If he comes up short, a Marlins playoff birth would be consolation enough until a 2016 opportunity rolls around.