Ichiro Suzuki marked another Major League Baseball milestone on Thursday as he passed Rod Carew for most hits in MLB history by a foreign-born player.
Ichiro singled twice in the Miami Marlins’ 4-3 loss to the Cardinals in St. Louis to take his major league hits tally to 3,054.
That carried him past Panama-born Carew and into 24th on the all-time list, one behind Rickey Henderson.
Carew, a 12-time All-Star who spent 12 seasons with the Twins and seven with the Angels, underwent a heart and kidney transplant in December.
Ichiro told the Miami Herald that he’d met the Hall of Famer and found him “a really nice man.”
“It was very special for me to be able to pass Rod Carew, so that was more special for me today,” the Japanese hit king said.
Last season Ichiro became the 30th player with 3,000 Major League hits, a club he joined on August 7 of 2016. He said Carew, who was ill at the time, wrote him a letter to commemorate the achievement.
Reflecting on the 43-year-old Ichiro’s continuing contribution, Marlins manager Don Mattingly told the Herald he found it “always amazing.”
“You start thinking about age, the shape he’s in,” Mattingly said. “He’s still competing at this level and being productive.”
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