MLB: Top 30 leadoff hitters of all-time
. 2001-Present. Mariners, Yankees, Marlins. Ichiro Suzuki. 4. player. 62
If he hadn’t spent his first nine professional seasons in Japan (where he had 1,278 hits), Ichiro Suzuki might have been worthy of the top spot on this list. Ichiro is knocking on the door of 3,000 Major League hits (2,858 as of Monday) despite not appearing in a big league game until he was 27 years old.
Simply, Ichiro has the best batting average ever for a leadoff hitter. At the end of the 2012 season (the year in which he was traded from the Seattle Mariners to the New York Yankees and stopped hitting leadoff regularly), Ichiro made 8,141 plate appearances at the top spot in the lineup and produced a .324/.368/.375 slash with 2,445 hits and 1,138 runs scored.
Arguably the greatest season ever for a leadoff hitter, Ichiro won the American League MVP Award as well as the Rookie of the Year Award in 2001. He won the AL batting title with a .350 average and led the Majors with 242 hits and 56 stolen bases in 157 games – 155 of them atop the batting order. He also contributed 34 doubles, eight triples, eight home runs, 69 RBI and scored 127 runs.
The only blemish (other than the team losing to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series) was taking just 30 walks (ten of which were intentional), which resulted in a .381 on-base percentage.
A ten-time All-Star, nine-time Gold Glove winner and three-time Silver Slugger, Ichiro has a career .317/.359/.411 line in the Major Leagues, collected more than 200 hits in each of his first ten MLB seasons, hit .350 or better four times and has yet to appear in less than 143 games in a season (and playing 161 or 162 eight times).
Next: Craig Biggio