EATTLE, Oct. 1 - Chasing a nearly forgotten
ghost of the game, Ichiro Suzuki broke one of baseball's oldest
records Friday night, smoking a single up the middle for his 258th
hit of the year and breaking George Sisler's record for most hits in
a season, which was set in 1920.
Suzuki broke the 84-year-old record in his second at-bat, leading
off the bottom of the third facing Ryan Drese and the Texas Rangers.
Suzuki had tied the record in his first at-bat, when he sent a
two-strike pitch bouncing over the head of Rangers third baseman
Hank Blalock. He added another single in the sixth inning.
A near-sellout crowd at Safeco Field chanted his name and gave a
standing ovation to Suzuki, the Mariners' right fielder. Suzuki, who
rarely shows emotion during a game, was mobbed by his teammates and
broke into an exuberant smile as his image was displayed next to
that of Sisler on the stadium's big television screen.
Suzuki walked over to members of the Sisler family in attendance
and shook their hands as Frances Sisler Drochelman, daughter of the
Hall of Fame player known as Gentleman George, congratulated
him.
The record hit seemed contagious. The Mariners followed with six
consecutive hits after Suzuki set the mark, tying a club record for
one inning. Suzuki came up for the third time in the game in the
same inning, hitting a long fly ball to center field that finally
retired the side.
With Friday night's first-inning hit, Suzuki set the major league
record for most base hits over any four-year span, with 919. In
August, he set a major league record for most hits over a player's
first four seasons.
Although the single-season hit record is not as glamorous as some
of baseball's power numbers, it is one of the oldest marks in the
game. Only three single-season marks are older: batting average,
.426, set by Nap Lajoie in 1901; victories by a pitcher, 41, set by
Jack Chesbro in 1904; and triples, 36, set by Chief Wilson in
1912.
Three generations from George Sisler's family were in the crowd.
And though none of them said they liked having the record fall out
of the family, they appreciated the attention it brought to Sisler,
who died in 1973 at the age of 80
"I think my dad would be proud of Ichiro," said Drochelman, who
is 81. "It would make him happy, because he liked good
baseball."
When Sisler set the record in 1920, he hit .406 for season.
Entering Friday's game, Suzuki was hitting .371. But on the road,
for the year, Suzuki hit .446, and for three months this year he hit
better than .400.
"What the guy has done is truly magical," said Dan Wilson, the
Mariners' catcher.
The record certainly came as no surprise to those who spend their
working days with Suzuki. Even in the gloom of a last-place season -
the Mariners started the night 28 games out of first place and are
trying to dodge a 100-loss season in their final three-game series
of the season. Suzuki's chase of the record has brought a certain
glow to this clubhouse.
"You need to watch this closely, because you may not see it again
for a long time," Manager Bob Melvin said in August, a month in
which Suzuki hit .463.
As one measurement of the kind of year Suzuki has had, he had a
44-hit edge over the player with the next highest number of hits in
the American League, Michael Young of the Rangers, going into the
game Friday. Melvin was nearly at a loss for words. "This is one of
the great records of all time," he said.
Randy Winn, who bats second in the lineup behind Suzuki, also
said he was amazed at the age of the record.
"I don't see anyone getting close to it now, unless it's Ichiro
himself, for a long, long time," Winn said. "Think about all these
five-hit games, these 50-hit months, this two-month stretch of
hitting well over .400 - the guy has been unbelievable."
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