Side by Side: Ichiro vs. Cobb – is it a fair fight?
On Saturday, Miami Marlins outfielder Ichiro Suzuki got his 4,192nd career hit – in the major leagues and Japan. That pushed him past Hall of Famer Ty Cobb.
Suzuki, 41, had 1,278 hits in nine seasons in Japan. Through Sunday, he had 2,915 hits in the major leagues.
While baseball does not recognize the combined total as an official record, it’s worth comparing the body of work by the noted hitting machines.
Both Suzuki and Cobb played nine seasons by age 27. Suzuki played his in Japan. Here is a look at six seasons while they were in their prime. It’s worth noting Cobb played just 98 games in his 10th season. The categories are hits, batting average and stolen bases:
Suzuki | Cobb | |
Age 27 | ||
242 | Hits | 127 |
.350 | Avg. | .368 |
56 | Steals | 35 |
Age 28 | ||
208 | Hits | 208 |
.321 | Avg. | .369 |
31 | Steals | 96 |
Age 29 | ||
212 | Hits | 201 |
.312 | Avg. | .371 |
34 | Steals | 68 |
Age 30 | ||
262 | Hits | 225 |
.372 | Avg. | .383 |
36 | Steals | 55 |
Age 31 | ||
206 | Hits | 161 |
.303 | Avg. | .382 |
33 | Steals | 34 |
Age 32 | ||
224 | Hits | 191 |
.322 | Avg. | .384 |
45 | Steals | 28 |
Source: baseball-reference.com
24 SEASONS? CHECK
Cobb retired after 24 seasons with a career .366 batting average and 897 stolen bases. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936.
Suzuki is in his 24th professional season and is a career .315 hitter with 496 stolen bases in the majors. He stole 199 bases in Japan and batted .353 in his nine seasons there.
Both players were primarily outfielders, batted left and threw right.
SOME PRIME NUMBERS
Cobb batted .377 during his prime seasons. He had 1,113 hits and stole 316 bases.
Suzuki batted .331 during his prime seasons. He had 1,354 hits and stole 235 bases.
Jeff Caraska
This story was originally published August 17, 2015 at 4:11 PM with the headline "Side by Side: Ichiro vs. Cobb – is it a fair fight?."