Ichiro Suzuki
Professional debut NPB: July 11, 1992 for the Orix BlueWave MLB: April 2, 2001 for the Seattle Mariners NPB statistics Batting average .353 Hits 1,278 Home runs 118 Runs batted in 529 Runs 658 Stolen bases 199 MLB statistics (through 2014 season) Batting average .317 Hits 2,844 Home runs 112 Runs batted in 717 Runs 1,303 Stolen bases 487 Teams Orix BlueWave (1992–2000) (NPB) Seattle Mariners (2001–2012) New York Yankees (2012–2014) Career highlights and awards NPB 7× NPB All-Star (1994–2000) 3× PL MVP (1994–1996) 7× Golden Glove Award (1994–2000) 7× Best Nine Award (1994–2000) 3× Matsutaro Shoriki Award (1994–1995, 2004) 3× Japan Professional Sports Grand Prize (1994–1995, 2001) 7× PL Batting Champion (1994–2000) 5× PL Safe Hit Champion (1994–1998) 5× PL On-base Champion (1994–1996, 1999–2000) 1995 PL Stolen Base Champion 1995 PL RBI Champion Japan Series Champion (1996) MLB 10× MLB All-Star (2001–2010) MLB All-Star Game MVP (2007) 2× AL Batting Champion (2001, 2004) AL Stolen Base Champion (2001) Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award (2005) AL MVP (2001) AL Rookie of the Year (2001) 3× Silver Slugger Award (2001, 2007, 2009) 10× Gold Glove Award (2001–2010) MLB Records 262 hits, single season 225 singles, single season 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons Baseball Achievements 4,000 hits combined in NPB and MLB Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō?), usually known mononymously as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō?) (born October 22, 1973), is a Japanese-born professional baseball right fielder for the Miami Marlins of Major League Baseball (MLB). Originally a player in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), Ichiro moved to the United States in 2001 to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Seattle Mariners, with whom he spent 11 seasons, and later the New York Yankees. Ichiro has established a number of batting records, including MLB's single-season record for hits with 262. He had 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player in history. Between his career hits in Japan's and America's major leagues, Ichiro stands at third place all-time in top-flight hits, trailing only Pete Rose and Ty Cobb. Before playing in the MLB, Ichiro played nine years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League. Posted by Orix after the 2000 season, Ichiro became Seattle's right fielder. The first Japanese-born position player to be signed to the major leagues, Ichiro led the American League (AL) in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ichiro is the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (The Golden Players Club). He is a ten-time All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run. Ichiro won a Gold Glove Award in each of his first ten years in the major leagues, and has had seven hitting streaks of 20 or more games, with a high of 27. Ichiro also leads all active players in stolen bases, with 487.