New York Yankees outfielder Ichiro Suzuki reached the 4,000 professional hit plateau Wednesday night against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium.
In just the third pitch he saw from Blue Jays pitcher R.A. Dickey, Suzuki singled through the left side of the infield to place his name in history. Suzuki was congratulated on the field by his Yankees teammates and even the opposing Blue Jays cheered for him upon reaching the milestone.
The video of Suzuki's historic knock can be seen below, courtesy of MLB.com.
Suzuki had 1,278 hits in Japan and Wednesday notched his 2,722nd hit in Major League Baseball to reach 4,000 career professional hits. Suzuki joins only Pete Rose (4,256) and Ty Cobb (4,191) as the only players to eclipse the 4,000 mark in professional hitting.
After becoming a star in Japan with a great career from 1992-2000, Suzuki came to the Seattle Mariners after the team won the rights to him with a bid of $13.125 million. His 262 hits in the 2004 season, broke George Sisler's record
Seattle traded Ichiro to the Yankees last July, and he may finish his career in a New York uniform after spending 11 1/2 seasons and establishing himself as a household name with the Mariners. Ichiro eclipsed 200 hits in ten of his seasons with Seattle.
During the 2013 campaign, Ichiro is hitting .274 with six homers and 29 RBIs in 118 games. The Yankees are hoping to make a push for the playoffs as they entered Wednesday night's game seven games behind the first place Boston Red Sox in the AL East and 4.5 games out of the second wildcard spot, currently held by the Oakland Athletics.
Ichiro's monumental career hit yet another milestone Wednesday night, and the outfielder is hopeful that his indvidual success will help propel the Yankees into the postseason.
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