A tip of the cap and a deep bow to the honorable Ichiro Suzuki, who struck his 2,000th major-league hit this afternoon in Oakland. Those hits came after the 1,278 hits he had playing in Japan before crossing the Pacific to play for the Mariners.
Ichiro’s accomplishments are remarkable. Statistically, he’s one of the greatest hitters ever. Even more, he fully opened up the game to players from Asia. Yes, there had been Japanese players before him, but Ichiro has proven irrefutably that a Japanese player can be a superstar in the great American pastime. The game and the world are better for it.
The Ball Caps Blog 