Ichiro Suzuki collected his 3,000th hit yesterday, making him the first Japanese player to reach that milestone.

What makes this amazing is Ichiro, now playing with the Miami Marlins,  did not play in the major leagues until he was 27.

The hit was a triple at Coors Field off Colorado's Chris Rusin in the seventh inning.  Suzuki is the second player whose 3,000th hit was a triple.  Paul Molitor is the other.

After being named to the Japanese League All-Star team seven times, Suzuki signed with the Seattle Mariners and it didn't take long for him to become a household name.

He had 200 hits in each of his first ten seasons in Seattle, along with  10 Gold Gloves, 10 All-Star appearances, two batting titles and one MVP award. He led the American League in hits seven times, and he led the majors in steals in 2001.

Here's a video shot from the stands of the 3,000th hit

 

 

 

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