Ichiro homers for hit No. 200 - 美國職棒

08/27/2004 3:09 AM ET
Ichiro homers for hit No. 200
First MLB player to get 200 hits in first four seasons
By Jim Street / MLB.com

SEATTLE -- Getting 200 hits a season is old hat for Mariners right fielder Ich
iro Suzuki.
The seven-time batting champion in Japan, before coming to the Mariners prior
to the 2001 season, collected his 200th hit of 2004 on Thursday night, belting
a leadoff home run in the ninth inning at Safeco Field, making him the first
player in Major League history to start an MLB career with four consecutive 20
0-hit seasons.

When he came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning with the Mariners losing
to the Royals, 7-2, the fans stood and verbally urged Ichiro to get a hit off
Royals reliever Jeremy Affeldt.

Ichiro had been hitless for the second straight game and appeared to be pressi
ng hard for that 200th hit. He was 0-for-11 the past two games and the fans we
re unaware that Ichiro was 2-for-13 with three strikeouts in his career agains
t Affeldt.

Didn't matter.

Affeldt threw a first-pitch fastball that made dead-solid contact with Ichiro'
s black bat. The baseball soared towards the gap in right-center field and dis
appeared over the fence.

Ichiro ran around the bases quickly and received a hero's welcome inside the f
irst base dugout.

"You could tell he was pretty happy about it and relieved to get it over with,
" manager Bob Melvin said. "Even after a game like that, he broke a smile. I t
hink this one means quite a bit to him."

Afterwards, Ichiro admitted that his latest accomplishment is something specia
l.

"I heard them," he said of the fans. "They were very loud."

Ichiro said he realized that many of the 30,962 at the game were there to see
him make history. The number of flashbulbs that popped during every pitch was
a dead giveaway.

Several fans departed after Ichiro grounded out in the seventh inning, figurin
g it was his final at-bat of the game. Those fans missed out on a special mome
nt.

One pitch into the ninth inning and it was history.

"With the score the way it was, I don't think he was looking for any other (ki
nd) of pitch," Affeldt said. "He got me and my hat's off to him. I give it up
and now my name will be in the books. Not that I want it in the books like tha
t, but it's there."

While even accumulating 200 hits during a 162-game season is an accomplishment
, getting there before the end of August is astounding. The last time a player
hit the mark quicker was in 1930 when Bill Terry of the Giants go there in 11
9 games and Chuck Klein six games later.

Thursday night's game was the Mariners' 126th of the season.

Ichiro had 242 hits in his rookie season, when he was selected as the American
League's Most Valuable Player and Rookie of the Year. He added 208 hits in 20
02 and tacked on 212 more last season, struggling in August (.242) and Septemb
er (.273).

But he has been the Major League's hottest hitter since the All-Star break. He
was batting .321 going into the Midsummer Classic in Houston and barely in th
e top 10 in batting average.

He has been red-hot ever since, never going more than one game without at leas
t one hit.

"You just run out of superlatives when you talk about him," Melvin said.

With more than a month remaining, Ichiro was asked if he could challenge the s
ingle-season hit record of 257, set by George Sisler in 1920.

"I concentrate on goals that I can see and that is too hard for me to see," he
said. "In Japan, I had 210 in 130 games one year (1994) and maybe to get that
is a short goal.

"Once I get within reach (of Sisler's record), I will think about that then."

In the meantime, he has a chance to add a third 50-hit month (May-July) to his
season total. Ichiro is 44-for-97 with four games remaining in August.

"To come over here and break records is nice," Ichiro said. "I hope in the fut
ure that I can be someone they can look up to and knowing my size, that they c
an do it, too.

"This is my fourth year here and I have learned many things," he added. "My sk
ills have gone up and I am very happy the way they have improved here."

And he still has a few more records on his hit list to pursue.

◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎沒P幣可以賺的分隔線5代◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎◎

(暈倒)

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我們可以肯定，把持台灣政治或經濟大權的，絕對是不曾打過棒球，當然也就不會愛棒球
的人。甚至體育相關單位，或棒協等組織的領導者，也絕對不曾打過棒球，當然也不會愛
棒球。畢竟不讀書的小孩如何能當官？

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