SEATTLE -- A record that perhaps only one person in Japan thought would ever be
broken was toppled at Safeco Field on Thursday night.
A little more than 27 years after Isao Harimoto delivered his 3,085th career hit,
Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki went one better, getting his 3,086th with a single
to right field in the fourth inning of Seattle's series finale against the Angels.
The 18,528 fans gave Ichiro a prolonged ovation. He removed his helmet and
waved it to the crowd.
After the game, which the Mariners lost, 5-1, Ichiro reflected on his latest hits
record, recalling a conversation he had in 1995 with the now former all-time
hits leader in Japan.
"Mr. Harimoto told me, 'The only guy who could beat my record is you.'
Looking back on that now, for him to be able to say that to a player who only had
one [full] year under his belt, I am amazed [he] would have had that vision.
"I don't think he said that about any other player in Japan."
And what was Ichiro's reaction?
"I thought, 'What is this crazy man saying?'"
Harimoto, 68, was in attendance for the record-breaker, just as he was on
Wednesday night with Ichiro came off the 15-day disabled list and went
2-for-5, tying the record with a grand slam in the seventh inning.
The Mariners right fielder said he was under a lot of pressure to break the
record on Thursday night."Mr. Harimoto's plan was to to home [on Friday],
so if I didn't get therecord today, I was worried about what he had to do with
his plane ticket,so I had that kind of pressure as well," Ichiro said.
Harimoto returned to Japan as second on the all-time Japan hit list.
Who, other than the former record-holder himself, would have thought.
"In Japan, they only play 130 games a season and it was said for a long
time that this record would never be broken," Mariners catcher Kenji
Johjima said. "To see someone like him break it, it's an honor. It's great.
There is nothing more we can expect."
The single off Angels starter Joe Saunders was the 1,808th of Ichiro's
Major League career, which started in April 2001. The first 1,278 hits of
his professional career came during his nine-year career with the Pacific
League Orix Blue Wave.
"We have a big history in Japan," Johjima said, "and being able to accomplish
that here means the same thing."
An icon in Japan long before he decided to test his talent at the Major League
level, Ichiro never missed a beat after crossing the Pacific Ocean. He led the
Mariners to their record 116-win season in 2001, capturing the Most Valuable
Player and Rookie of the Year awards.
He led the American League with 242 hits and batted .350, capturing the first
of his two batting titles.
The hits kept coming, and so did the records.
Ichiro broke an 84-year-old record in 2004 when he had 262 hits -- five more
than Hall of Fame first baseman George Sisler in 1920 -- and reached the
200-hit level in each of his eight seasons with the Mariners.
That ties the all-time MLB record, previously held all alone by Willie Keeler
(1894-1901). He also tied Lou Gehrig's modern record with at least 200 hits
and 100 runs in eight seasons during a career.
Besides all the hits, Ichiro is 8-for-8 in All-Star Game selections and
Gold Glove Awards.
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