The INSANE Prime of Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro could have left after his 10th season and would still have been a 1st ballot HOF’er. Pete Rose is the ONLY other player with at least 10 seasons of 200 or more hits. Ichiro accomplished it in his first 10 seasons. That along with being the best lead off hitter in the game, speed to burn and an arm you didn’t even think about running on sealed his placement in Cooperstown.

The dude was just a flat out baseball weapon.. as a Mariners fan the ownership should be ashamed, but did they care? NOPE!!!!! They followed it up with wasting the prime of one of the best pitchers of all time! I'm sick of it 🤣

Great video on the legendary Ichiro @cam23 👊

Itchy will always have a place in Seattle’s history and who grew up with him

1st ballot guaranteed for 2025. Should match Mariano with 100%. If any voters would not put him on next year's ballot...

How Aaron, Mays, Maddux, Randy Johnson and Griffey Jr didn't get 100%...

Let me get this straight, Ichiro was not given the MVP because the Mariners finished in last place? But Gerrit Cole of the Yankees won the Cy Young award despite the Yankees finishing next to last in their division in 2023?

Imagine if he went to the mlb in his early 20s

Always exciting to watch.

Shohei is doing unprecedented things but he lacks the flair & charisma that Ichiro had. Kinda like comparing Lebron to MJ.

Can you do one on Willie Stargell from Pittsburgh pirates

Simply the very best - period! A true hero of professional sports. He is working with high schoolers in Japan. A man for all seasons. A person to emulate. Humble beyond words.🙇

One of the best baseball players ever to play..without a doubt.

Undeniably one of the greatest to ever play baseball.

First off great video. I think Ichiro is definitely in the top ten baseball players to ever play the game.

I don’t care if it it was the steroids era. Baseball was really fun back then. There were so many good players

Thanks for compiling Ichiro's amazing career. Great job +++

amazing

MLB needs to reconsider what a rookie is. like an NPB batting champ is far, far away better than any rookie.

I remember the year he came over to MLB. Many scouts/"baseball guys" and commentators said that he wasn't strong enough to hit MLB pitching. They claimed he'd get eaten up vs high velocity pitches. I vividly recall some guy saying Ichiro would get the bat knocked out of his hands.

Ichiro was a throwback player that showed you how much more fun the game was to watch before the Babe changed the game forever.

He's the best baseball player I've ever seen.

Does he do Brain Surgery as well? Way too much for these players!!

I can’t believe the Tom Brady story is real, but apparently it is.

(If you don’t know, do your Googles 🙃)

Ichiro is proof you need not only hit home runs to be great. The thousands of slap-singles should prove that.

Wade Boggs and Ichiro go hard.

385 BA is nuts

Great video, but if you want to use Chinese characters for the years, the years should be formatted in the Japanese calendar. We never use Chinese characters for the Gregorian calendar.

Im not giving up Superfreak Spencer or Austin Wells for ANYONE. I think we need to go out and get Shota Imanaga. He slots into the 3 or 4 hole and he and Cortes can battle out for that spot.
We know Blake Snell is going to be EXPENSIVE. But slotting him behind Cole would be unbelievable to see. Most importantly we need frugality because Soto CANNOT BE ALLOWED TO WALK. If Castillo (Seattle) can be had in a reasonable package of bats and arms. That would be a great get. Im not sold on the kid from Miami. His injury history is a huge red flag for me. We cant afford to take in anyone else's broken toys.

Just a great hitter, regardless of which continent he played on.

More total hits than Ty Cobb. Not by a hair either... Ichiro is pure baseball. We got to witness a solid chunk of that. We're lucky.

Ichiro was my favorite player after Ken Griffey Jr. and I’m a Dodger fan.

I'm gonna say it. I think Ichiro was one of the top ten players EVER to play in MLB. A five tool player who was consistently great day in and day out. Yeah, I'm putting him up there with Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Mickey Mantle, etc.... He was THAT good. Should be a unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer.

10 years straight 200 hits hahahaha

As a Japanese, how Ichiro fought in the WBC and and won 2 titles is a very important and unforgettable memory of his career

kinda sad how small the mention is in the video, but considering how the tournament was not veiwed as important untill recent days in the US, I also get it

"I could hit 30 Home Runs a Year if I wanted to easily, but I'd bat .260 and that's not my Role". - Ichiro

The Crazy Part about 2001 and Ichiro getting ROY and MVP? Pujols was NL ROY and 3rd in MVP Voting. Not only was Ichiro only the Second to do it, but Pujols was close enough that Ichiro was the reason he didn't do it himself.

He averaged over 205 hits his 10 years in MLB ... does anyone honestly think if he started in MLB he would not have the hits record .. exactly 💯

He was a hit machine with speed a great glove and a Canon for an arm one of the all time great no question about it

hitting machine

Ichiros worst offensive year as 40+ year old is still better than most players in their prime in todays league. Heres a stat to put things into perspective. In Ichiros 19 year career he only struck out 1,080 times, Joey Gallo in only 9 seasons has struck out a blistering 1,190 times! 🤯

Which other professional athlete can claim to be a hall of famer in two different leagues? Ichiro and Warren Moon . Maybe Gordie Howe and Bobby Hull but the WHA didn’t last very long . Yes . I’m Canadian.

Don't know if you've already done it but David Cone I seem to remember had an insane prime and it's a name that isn't really brought up much

Fun Facts
1: Ichiro was the first Japanese fielder to play MLB
2: Ichiro caused the contract fees for Japanese fielders to skyrocket.
3: Ichiro was a pitcher in high school.
4: Jim Colborn, who scouted Ichiro, was the pitching coach for the same team in NPB.
5: Jim Colborn had his eye on Ichiro when Ichiro was a member of the team's second team.
6: Jim Colborn had lobbied for Ichiro to move to MLB for years.
7: Jim Colborn knocked and hit pitchers as Ichiro began his NPB pre-season training in Southern California.
8: Jim Colborn made special arrangements for Ichiro to attend the Seattle Mariners spring camp as an NPB player.
9: In anticipation of Ichiro becoming a free agent, Jim Colborn continued to approach the Seattle Mariners about a contract.
10: Ichiro's run time from home to first base remained one of the best in the league at age 43.

I saw Ichiro play three times and every time he did something spectacular on the field. Besides averaging two hits a game he would have a strong put out from right field and run down balls in the gap. He was one of the best players I seen play.

1995 and 2001 was the only years my mom cared about baseball. Thats how historic those mariner teams were.

Ichiro visited George Sislers grave.

He 100% should be a first ballot unanimous Hall of Famer. Anyone that does not vote him in should lose their right to vote.

My vote for greatest position player ever. Before Ohtani, if I were making an all-time all-star team Ichiro is my first pick out of the gate. Some would pick hitters with more power numbers or high average from previous eras, but in my mind these don't equate to the modern era. Forty two players in MLB history have hit .400+ for a season but none in the last 75 years - so that tells the story right there. Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle, Jackie Robinson or Ted Williams - none of these guys ever saw a 90 mph fastball or the insane breaking pitches of Ichiro's era. Ichiro himself said he could have hit 40+ homers a year - and his former teammates and managers support that contention - but he felt that with his speed and base-stealing ability, high average and OBP were more valuable to the team than going for the fences and hitting .260 .

A true legend in Baseball and a role model for the sports world.