One of the greatest runs in all of sport is in serious danger of coming to an end.
Whether or not you’re a fan of Ichiro, there’s no denying that it takes at least a little something special to consistently hit like he has even before he came to the U.S. a decade ago.
His accomplishments are far too many to list here, and they extend beyond his hitting exploits, but those are what we all think of first when Ichiro comes to mind, and for good reason. Considering how much the Mariners have struggled for the most part over the last several seasons, there aren’t many reasons to peruse Seattle’s box score on a daily basis, but he’s one of them.
Coming into this season, Ichiro had topped the 200-hit mark in each of his first 10 MLB seasons. Ten. And for the most part, it’s been done with ease, with the exception of 2002 (208) and 2005 (206), when he cut it close.
However, it’s going to take quite a lot for Ichiro to continue that streak, as he’s having a very un-Ichiro like 2011 season.
It started off well enough, as he hit .328 in April. But from May to August, he hit only .258, hitting .210 in May, .282 in June, .241 in July, and .293 in August. After a strong end to his August, he’s had a decent start to his September, hitting .304, belting a couple of home runs, and stealing six bases in his first 11 games this month.
Still, he comes into tonight’s game against the Yankees hitting only .275, and he has 168 hits with 16 games remaining, which means he needs to average exactly two hits per game from here on to keep his 200-hit streak going.
That would seem to be a tall task for many hitters, but if there’s one man that can do it, it’s Ichiro. Even in a down season, he has 55 multi-hit games, which has him currently tied for second in the league with Melky Cabrera (that’s right, Melky Cabrera) and Michael Young, behind Adrian Gonzalez’s 61.
But even if he can get 32 or more hits, he could still fall short of .300. At 4.2 at bats per game (his average for the season), which would give him 67 at bats in his last 16 games, 32 hits would see him finish at only .295. To get to the .300 mark with that many at bats, he needs 36 hits. Easy stuff, right?
He had a chance to really help his cause this past weekend, with the Mariners hosting one of the league’s worst pitching teams in Kansas City, but after going 6 for 8 in the first two games of the four-game set, he was only 1 for 8 in the last two games.
He has some unsightly numbers this season against Seattle’s remaining opponents, but the career numbers are far more favorable, giving his chase a little more hope.
REMAINING SCHEDULE
vs. New York Yankees (3) – .327 average in 96 games (.231 this season – 6 for 26)
vs. Texas (3)/at Texas (3) – .319 BA in 204 games (.157 this season – 8 for 51)
at Cleveland (1) – .344 BA in 91 games (.351 in 49 career games at Jacobs Field)
at Minnesota (3) – .325 BA in 91 games (.160 at Target Field – 4 for 25 in six career games)
vs. Oakland (3) – .331 BA in 198 games (.358 this season – 24 for 67)
In the end, the above statistics and what he’s done up to this point this season matter only so much, because though we haven’t seen it as much this season as in the past, he’s still capable of catching fire at any time. So, it’d be a mistake to write him off, even with the struggles he’s had this season and time not being on his side to right the ship. The greats find a way more often than not, and he’s most certainly one of the greats.
And as easy as he’s made hitting .300+ with 200+ hits seem, it shouldn’t be considered a surprise if, in his last at-bat of his last game of this season, he manages to get the hit that extends one of the greatest individual runs we’ve seen in baseball, or any sport.
