Miami Marlins Ichiro Suzuki Moving Up The Chart

Sam Crawford (2,961 hits, 32nd all-time):  No, not that featured Sammy, though I will confess to thinking of Sam Crawford often at my favorite local watering hole. Crawford is a cornerstone of pub trivia in the later innings, as he is the ranking all-time leader in triples.  Having played his last game in 1917, we’re obviously unable to stack up any of the common award hauls for comparison here.  Comparing hit tallies in a season would be harsh as well given the difference in season lengths, though Crawford does have 3.5 seasons on Ichiro.  In any case, Crawford had over 200 hits once; you know Ichiro’s mark.  They’re tied in seasons batting .300 or better at eleven.  Crawford’s best batting mark tops Ichiro’s, .378 to .372, but Ich has three campaigns that easily top Crawford’s next best offering.  The Triples King did lead his league in homers twice, but that was during the Dead Ball Era, when hitting 7 HRs was enough to strike fear in opposing pitchers.

Despite the fact that Crawford was a power and RBI force for his era, feel that Ichiro walks away the winner here with a .993 to .969 fielding percentage.  Those Gold Gloves can only be ignored for so long.