Sep 3, 2004

I-chi-ro

We love Ichiro for the same reason we love Greg Maddux: he is smart, humble, hard-working, and, above all, a student of the great game of baseball. And he's on pace to break George Sisler's hits record--he needs 40 hits in 29 remaining games, and he's hitting .374. If anyone can, Ichiro can.
Suzuki, chasing George Sisler's major league record for hits in a season, went 3-for-5 and has 217 hits. He has 29 games left to break Sisler's mark of 257 hits set in 1920 with the St. Louis Browns.

Suzuki, the AL player of the month for August, leads the majors with a .374 average. He finished 20-for-40 against Toronto this season.

"He's unbelievable. I never thought I'd fear a guy who hits singles," Blue Jays interim manager John Gibbons said. "He's a weapon. Geez, I guess if you're great you're great."

Hudson and Gabe Gross drove in three runs, and Wells ended an 0-for-24 slump with a two-run homer for the Blue Jays, who won for just the third time in nine games.

Seattle manager Bob Melvin could tell the Blue Jays were in awe of Suzuki.

"You can see the look on those guys faces when Ichiro leads off the game with a hit," Melvin said.

Asked if he can keep up at this pace, Suzuki said through a translator: "Ask a fortune teller."

Add "funny" to the list. Ichiro rules.

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