Ichiro Suzuki officially announced his retirement on Thursday following the Mariners' 5-4 win over Oakland in the second game of MLB's Opening Series at the Tokyo Dome. Ichiro appeared in just 15 games last season before shifting roles as the special assistant to the chairman. He still suited up and had a locker in the Seattle clubhouse but was no longer on the team's active roster. The Japanese megastar opted to play the two-game set in the country where it all started for him before hanging up the spikes for good.
Ichiro was the active hits leader at the time he called it quits with 3,089, ahead of Albert Pujols (3,082) among current players.
The second-oldest position player to start on opening day behind Julio Franco in 2004, Ichiro will forever have a place in baseball's record books and eventually among the game's greats in Cooperstown. In a sport where statistics are treated like gospel, the 45-year-old has several noteworthy numbers attached to his name.
1: Ichiro's unofficial spot on baseball's all-time hits leaderboard. Suzuki collected 1,278 hits over nine seasons with the Orix Blue Wave of Japan's Pacific League prior to being purchased by Seattle on Nov. 30, 2000, giving him a total unmatched in professional baseball history at 4,367. Pete Rose is MLB's official hit king with 4,256 in the bigs betweeen 1963-86.
2: The number of players to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season: Ichiro (2001) and Fred Lynn (1975).
3: The number of Pacific League MVP awards Ichiro won between 1992 and 2000.
4: The number of times Ichiro ranked either first or second in batting average across both the American and National Leagues. He won the AL title in his rookie year with a .350 average (.3497), just a smidge behind Colorado's Larry Walker (.3501). His .372 mark topped all of baseball in 2004, while in 2007 he finished runner-up to White Sox slugger Magglio Ordonez (.363) with a .351 average. Two years later he trailed only Minnesota's Joe Mauer (.365), hitting .352 in his ninth straight All-Star season.
5: The number of categories in which Ichiro ranks atop Seattle's franchise all-time list: hits (2,542), batting average (.322), at-bats (7,907), triples (79) and stolen bases (438).
6: The number of outfielders in MLB history to win at least 10 Gold Glove Awards: Roberto Clemente (12), Willie Mays (12), Ken Griffey Jr. (10), Andruw Jones (10), Al Kaline (10) and Ichiro.
7: The number of players in MLB history with at least 3,000 hits and 500 stolen bases, a list that includes Ichiro, Lou Brock, Ty Cobb, Eddie Collins, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor and Honus Wagner.
8: The number of seasons in which Ichiro had at least 200 hits and scored at least 100 runs. He became just the second player in baseball's modern era to accomplish this, joining Yankees legend Lou Gehrig.
9(.2): Ichiro's league-leading WAR figure in 2004, his age-30 season when he ran away with the batting title at .372 with an .869 OPS. He also led the league in at-bats (704), hits (262), intentional walks (19) and putouts as a right fielder (372).
10: The number of Gold Gloves Ichiro won, most among current players. He was also named to 10 consecutive All-Star teams from 2001-10, tied with Griffey Jr. for the most in club history. He was named All-Star MVP in 2007, notching three hits including the first inside-the-park homer ever in the Midsummer Classic.
$169 million: Ichiro's estimated career MLB earnings from the Mariners, Yankees and Marlins combined. This does not factor the millions per year he received from endorsement deals while playing in the United States, much of which came from Japanese companies.
