And it's done!

[brianborsch]

Ichiro has successfully hit his 200th hit this year making him the only player in MLB history to have 9 consecutive 200 hit seasons while batting over .300 in the season.
Ichiro is truly one of the best hitters to play the game. Even age can't slow him down!

[NYCrulesU]

Congrats to Ichiro! I can see him reaching 3000, he says he plans to play well into his 40's.


Speaking of 3000, here is my take on the players we MIGHT see reach the 3000 hit mark:


Derek Jeter
Ken Griffey Jr. - Provided he plays approx. 3 more seasons.
Alex Rodriguez
Ichiro - Provided he plays 5-7 more seasons.
Miguel Cabrera - I know I know, WAY too early to tell. But, at 26, his stats are comprable to Hank Aaron and Griffey jr at that same age.

[joelsabi]

Ichiro is amazing. Hes my favorite player to watch at the ballpark just becuz he is so cerebral in the way he plays the game. It would be more amazing if he gets to 3000 over here. Im not betting against him.

[suave1477]

I doubt you will see Griffey Jr. do it if it takes him roughly 3 more seasons. Chances are he will retire if not after this season maybe next.

He has nothing left in him at this point.

The others I agree will most likely do it.

[Manram]

Congrats to Ichiro. He is a great hitter

[xpress34]

Speaking of 3000, here is my take on the players we MIGHT see reach the 3000 hit mark:

Derek Jeter


MIGHT?!?

As I've said previously, I am NOT a Yankees fan, but I am a fan of Jeter and the way he handles himself both on and off the field.

Barring a serious injury, Jeter is a LOCK to hit 3000 sometime in the 2011 season based on his historical production numbers.

NOT including this season (where he has 189 hits already), Jeter has AVERAGED 181 hits a season over the previous 14 seasons and that INCLUDES his 12 hits in the 15 games he appeared in in 1995.

Remove those and he his average jumps to an amazing 194 hits per year over his previous 13 Full Seasons. He has had over 200 hits 6 times in his career and his LOW was 156 hits in 119 games in 2003 due to injury where his missed 1/4 of the season.

If he didn't have another hit this year and sat on 2724 until next year, and if he only had an AVERAGE season the next two years he should have between 2905 and 2918 at the end of the 2010 season - meaning he should hit # 3,000 sometime around the All-Star break in 2011.

Even if he only matched his Career Low Season of 156 hits each of the next two seasons, he would still hit # 3,000 in the 2011 season. (

Like I said, he is a LOCK.

Junior on the other hand has only averaged 134 hits per season before this year and he is at 2755 right now, so he needs AT LEAST 2 years of AVERAGE or ABOVE AVERAGE production to get there. His HIGHEST Season was 185 in his Prime Years in 1997. I can't even discount his short years due to him being prone to injury - he is the most likely to have injuries and age stop him short of the goal.

A-Rod - 160 hits a year on average (181 not including his 1st two 'short' years - 11 G and 48 G)... sitting at 2515, he needs at least 2.5 to 3 more good seasons to get there and the steroids thing could possibly affect his numbers before then.

Ichiro - at 225 hits per season average (and no signs of slowing down), if he can stay at that pace (or even a small decline - say to 195 to 200 per season) he will break the 3,000 hit barrier in the 2013 to 2014 season. Not including today's hits, he was sitting at 2003 career hits as of today in almost 9 full seasons.

Cabrerra - time will see if he can hold up. I won't even speculate on him here. He's only averaging 170 hits a year so far... he's ahead of Junior's avg, but far below the others.

CURRENT stats throught this season so far (not including today's hits):

Junior - 2755 hits over 21 seasons
Jeter - 2724 hits over 15 seasons
A-Rod - 2515 hits over 16 seasons
Ichiro - 2003 hits over 9 seasons
Cabrerra - 1197 hits over 7 seasons

That said - CONGRATS to Ichiro the 'Baseball Whackin' Dude!'

- Chris

[NYCrulesU]

Yes, might. Might as is nothing is a lock until it is achieved. God forbid a player die in a car accident, suffer a career ending injury etc Things happen. Are the players I listed all withing range or on pace? Yes. Barring any major catastrophe is Jeter going to get 3000? Of course. No need to get your panties in a twist. Nobody was knocking Jeter. No need to go into some diatribe about how great he is or is not. I merely am the person who doesn't count his chickens until they're hatched and I don't count hits until they are achieved.

So until they reach the 3000 hit plateau the players I listed, in my opinion, are mights and possibles. Nothing in life is guaranteed.

[both-teams-played-hard]

Ichiro plays baseball like it's a video game. If Ichiro played for the Yankees, then (fill in the blank).