Getty Images Ichiro Suzuki played in his 12th game for the Yankees in a 6-2 win over the Mariners on Sunday. Just like in the first 11, he had exactly one hit, no walks and no strikeouts.
That makes for a few oddities:
- His hitting streak with exactly one hit in each game is the longest since the Dodgers’ Willy Aybar had a 13-game streak in 2006. The Cardinals’ Ted Sizemore has the longest such streak since 1970, going 16 straight games in 1975.
- Dating back to his last game with the Mariners, Ichiro has now gone 13 games without a strikeout, the third longest stretch of his career. He went 15 games without a strikeout in both 2004 and 2008.
- The walkless streak doesn’t rate so high on the list. At 13 games without a walk, he’s merely tied for the 10th longest streak of his career. He went 25 games without a walk early on in his rookie season of 2001 (hitting .375 during the span). Also, he had streaks of 19 and 17 games without walks earlier this season.
- However, to go without a strikeout or a walk for 13 games is a new milestone for him. His previous long there were nine-game streaks in 2001 (during his career-high walkless streak) and 2008 (during his career-high K-less streak).
- At 12 games, he’s now tied with Don Slaught (1988) for the longest hitting streak to begin a career for the Yankees.
- Ichiro hit .261 in 402 at-bats for the Mariners this season. After 46 at-bats for the Yankees, he’s likewise at .261.
-
- Matthew Pouliot - Aug 5, 2012 at 4:54 PM
-
I’d like to thank Michael Saunders, for losing Ichiro’s double in the sun, for making this blog entry possible.
-
- stex52 - Aug 6, 2012 at 1:11 PM
-
Sorry, Matt, but not the most interesting set of statistics you have put together. In the world of baseball stats, I rate this article as somewhere around Guiness Book of Records “Largest Ball of String in Iowa” quality.
And no slight intended to Iowa. I just needed to make an example.
-
- proudlycanadian - Aug 5, 2012 at 5:06 PM
-
I would like to thank Usain Bolt for making this afternoon incredible.
-
- nothanksimdriving123 - Aug 5, 2012 at 8:06 PM
-
Bolt is the first man ever to not only defend his Oly 100 meters crown, but also break the Oly record both times.
-
- pisano - Aug 5, 2012 at 6:15 PM
-
Good for Ichiro, but the Yankees got him five to six years too late, he was really special in his prime, but still a good outfielder.
-
- bigharold - Aug 5, 2012 at 7:20 PM
-
At this rate he could well break DiMaggio’s 56 game streak and hit about .250 with an OBP of .275.
Nah, .. that couldn’t happen.
-
- yahmule - Aug 5, 2012 at 8:10 PM
-
It’s not easy to be in a hitting streak and a slump simultaneously.
-
- ireportyoudecide - Aug 5, 2012 at 10:09 PM
-
Take away the name and just look at his production the last 2 years. Terrible OBP%, SLG%, and an average outfielder. He shouldn’t be starting for anybody, let alone the Yankees.
-
- ireportyoudecide - Aug 5, 2012 at 10:20 PM
-
Out of 146 qualified hitters he ranks 137 in OPS, out of all MLB hitters and pitchers he is ranked #328 in offensive war with .1 for the season. Why is he starting again?
-
- samu0034 - Aug 6, 2012 at 9:30 AM
-
I’m far from a master of defensive metrics, but from ’09-’12, it’s pretty hard to argue that Ichiro is anything but a still outstanding outfielder. Maybe he’s not what he used to be, but (according to FanGraphs) he’s top 10 in UZR, UZR/150, TZL, and RZR. Defensive Runs Saved is really the only advanced metric that would describe Ichiro as even average over that time. Point being, I think he’s still pretty stellar in the field.
-
- samu0034 - Aug 6, 2012 at 9:31 AM
-
I looked from ’10-’12. Not ’09-’12.
