Ichiro Suzuki reached a milestone on Sunday by collecting hit No. 3,000 of his illustrious Major League Baseball career.
After striking out in his first at-bat and grounding out in each of his next two plate appearances, Ichiro came up with one out in the seventh inning. He drove the third pitch he saw to right field, over the head of a leaping Gerardo Parra, and off the wall for his second triple of the season. The Marlins dugout emptied as teammates came out to congraulate the future Hall of Famer and Ichiro acknowledged the applauding crowd.
Ichiro became the 30th member of the 3,000-hit club and the first to reach the mark since Alex Rodriguez did it last June.
Since coming over from Japan, Ichiro has won the American League batting title twice and led the AL in hits seven times, including five consecutive seasons. He also set the MLB single-season record with 262 hits in 2004. As impressive as what Ichiro has been able to accomplish is, it’s perhaps even more so when you consider he was 27-years-old when he made his major league debut.
