Editing Ichiro Suzuki (section)

====2004: Single season hit record====
[[File:Ichiro display.JPG|thumb|upright|left|The display of Ichiro Suzuki, located on the third floor of the [[National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum]], which shows the ''Ichi-meter'', record for hits in a season for Ichiro Suzuki in 2004.]] Suzuki had his best offensive season in 2004, highlighted by his breaking of [[George Sisler]]'s 84-year-old record for most hits (257) in a season. An increase in games played benefited Suzuki, as he accumulated only 251 hits through the first 154 games of the season. Suzuki recorded 50 hits in four different months of the year (September and October are combined by MLB for this computational purpose), becoming the first player ever to have four in a season. With 51 hits in August 2001, Suzuki joined [[Pete Rose]] as the only players with four 50-hit months in a career.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Peebles |first=Laura |title=October 1, 2004: Ichiro Suzuki breaks George Sisler's single-season record with 258th hit – Society for American Baseball Research |url=https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-1-2004-ichiro-suzuki-breaks-george-sislers-single-season-record-with-258th-hit/ |access-date=2023-04-28 |language=en-US}}</ref>

On 21 May, Suzuki recorded his 2,000th professional hit. His 200th hit of 2004 came in just his 126th game. By the end of September, with one three-game series remaining, Suzuki's hit total stood at 256—one shy of Sisler. Suzuki singled off the [[Texas Rangers (baseball)|Rangers]]' [[Ryan Drese]] on 1 October to tie Sisler's record. In the third inning, on a 3–2 count, Suzuki singled up the middle for his 258th hit of the year, which Suzuki later called "the greatest moment of my baseball career."<ref>[http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/LjZhr0epOcI/ Ichiro's 258th hit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709113007/http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/LjZhr0epOcI |date=9 July 2009 }}, tudou.com</ref><ref name="Ichiro honored at Safeco">{{cite web| title=ichiro honored at Safeco| url=http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050422&content_id=1025543&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea| publisher=Seattle Mariners| date=22 April 2005| access-date=30 May 2009| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207205359/http://seattle.mariners.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20050422&content_id=1025543&vkey=news_sea&fext=.jsp&c_id=sea| archive-date=7 December 2008}}</ref> He was greeted by a swarm of teammates, and a standing ovation from the fans. Sisler's daughter Frances Sisler Drochelman attended the game and was greeted by Suzuki after his hit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://old.seattletimes.com/html/sports/2002052125_ichiroheads02.html|title=The Seattle Times: Sports: HITS-TORY! Ichiro breaks Sisler's record|access-date=7 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806230636/http://old.seattletimes.com/html/sports/2002052125_ichiroheads02.html|archive-date=6 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Suzuki finished the 2004 season with a record of 262 hits, giving him the single-season records for both the United States<ref name =seattletimes2>{{cite web|url=http://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/sports/ichiro-top-9-moments/|title=Ichiro's most memorable moments with the Mariners|access-date=6 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170207031926/http://projects.seattletimes.com/2016/sports/ichiro-top-9-moments/|archive-date=7 February 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Japanese baseball.

In July 2009, while in St. Louis for his ninth All-Star appearance, Suzuki made a trip to Sisler's grave. He later told reporters, "There's not many chances to come to St. Louis. In 2004, it was the first time I crossed paths with him, and his family generously came all the way to Seattle. Above all, it was a chance. I wanted to do that for a grand upperclassman of the baseball world. I think it's only natural for someone to want to do that, to express my feelings in that way. I'm not sure if he's happy about it."<ref>[https://www.espn.com/mlb/news/story?id=4329684 Ichiro visits Sisler's grave], ESPN.com, 15 July 2009</ref>

From 2001 to 2004, Suzuki had more hits (924) than anyone in history over any four-year period, breaking the record of 918 that [[Bill Terry]] accumulated from 1929 to 1932; Terry, however, played in 34 fewer games than Suzuki during their respective four-year spans.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/10/01/bc.bba.suzuki.hitsrecor.ap/index.html |title=Ichiro breaks single-season hits record |author=Unknown |agency=Associated Press |date=1 October 2004 |access-date=7 November 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511164925/http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2004/baseball/mlb/10/01/bc.bba.suzuki.hitsrecor.ap/index.html |archive-date=11 May 2008 }}</ref> He would later surpass his own mark by recording 930 hits from 2004 to 2007. During one 56-game stretch in 2004, Suzuki batted over .450. By comparison, [[Joe DiMaggio]] batted .408 during his [[Joe DiMaggio's 56-game hitting streak|record 56-game hitting streak]]. Suzuki batted over .400 against left-handed pitching in 2004.