A Post Worth More Than 4,000 Hits -- Highlighting the Remarkable Runs of Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki

In conjunction with this article, please take the poll atop the right column (unless it's gone by the time you read this).

It's an imperfect poll as I have no idea how many non-baseball fans are apt to visit Seth Saith on any given day, and I would presume that even passing fans of the national past-time will be familiar with all six of the names listed.

But my thought is that although Albert Pujols and Ichiro Suzuki are every bit the hitters (if not well-beyond as some would argue) that Reggie Jackson and Pete Rose were in the 1970's, they do not have anywhere near the same renown among the general public. (And the Q ratings of Halladay and Lincecum are likely even less, despite being two of the best pitchers in baseball).

But rather than ruing Pujols' and Ichiro's relative lack of mainstream popularity, I just felt like celebrating their accomplishments, which over the past 10 years have been truly historic.

Albert Pujols
...is the first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals. He entered the major leagues in 2001 and put together a better first decade than anyone in baseball history. These are his stats:

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
2001	21	STL	161	676	590	112	194	47	4	37	130	69	93	.329	.403	.610	1.013	157	360
2002	22	STL	157	675	590	118	185	40	2	34	127	72	69	.314	.394	.561	.955	151	331
2003	23	STL	157	685	591	137	212	51	1	43	124	79	65	.359	.439	.667	1.106	187	394
2004	24	STL	154	692	592	133	196	51	2	46	123	84	52	.331	.415	.657	1.072	172	389
2005	25	STL	161	700	591	129	195	38	2	41	117	97	65	.330	.430	.609	1.039	168	360
2006	26	STL	143	634	535	119	177	33	1	49	137	92	50	.331	.431	.671	1.102	178	359
2007	27	STL	158	679	565	99	185	38	1	32	103	99	58	.327	.429	.568	.997	157	321
2008	28	STL	148	641	524	100	187	44	0	37	116	104	54	.357	.462	.653	1.114	190	342
2009	29	STL	160	700	568	124	186	45	1	47	135	115	64	.327	.443	.658	1.101	189	374
2010	30	STL	159	700	587	115	183	39	1	42	118	103	76	.312	.414	.596	1.011	173	350
10 Seasons			1558	6782	5733	1186	1900	426	15	408	1230	914	646	.331	.426	.624	1.050	172	3580
162 Game Avg.			162	705	596	123	198	44	2	42	128	95	67	.331	.426	.624	1.050	172	372

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2010.

I'm no statistician, sabremetrician or mathematician, but 10 full seasons makes it easy to see that Pujols has averaged 41 home runs and 123 RBI while hitting .331 over the decade. Combining the power numbers with the batting average, and more in depth statistics that hopefully one of my friends can explain, what Pujols has done ranks up there with Mays, Williams, Aaron and the greatest of the all-time greats.

Using a 162-game average, which makes comparing players of different eras a bit easier, here's how Pujols compares in average, home runs, RBI and OPS (On-Base + Slugging Percentage; more info here) for his career to date vs. the entire careers for the others listed.

                                 HR   RBI   Avg.   OPS
Albert Pujols              42    128   .331   1.050  (still active)
Babe Ruth                  46    143   .342   1.164
Ted Williams              37    130   .344   1.116
Lou Gehrig                 37    149   .340   1.080
Barry Bonds               41    108   .298   1.051
Alex Rodriguez           43    129   .303   .958   (still active)
Hank Aaron               37    113    .305  .944
Willie Mays                36    103   .301   .941
Reggie Jackson          32     98    .262   .846

Clearly, the numbers state it with more clarity than I can, but what Pujols is doing has only been topped by a select few (only Ruth bests him in all 4 categories). And unlike his closest contemporary, A-Rod, or recent stars like Bonds and Sammy Sosa, Pujols has never been tainted with having failed a test for performance enhancing drugs or even strong anecdotal evidence, especially as more stringent testing is now in place and he's not exactly dropping off much.

Ichiro Suzuki
...is the right fielder for the Seattle Mariners. Like Pujols, he began playing in the major leagues in 2001. But he previously played 9 seasons in his native Japan, where he had 1,278 hits and a .353 career batting average (seasons in Japan are shorter than the 162 in the U.S.; previously 130, now 142. Ex-Cub Matt Murton just broke Ichiro's single-season hits record in Japan, but it took him more games).

Although Ichiro can't compare to Pujols due to the lack of comparable power stats, beyond the hitting stats I'll show below, he has also been one of the best fielders and base runners in baseball.

With his 10th 200-hit season, Ichiro just broke his own major league record for most consecutive seasons of 200 hits or more, and tied Pete Rose for most such campaigns in a major league career (and Rose played 24 seasons).

Look at Ichiro's stats below and think about this: Ichiro has 2,244 hits in just 10 seasons. If he were to have the same number of plate appearances as Rose (15,864;  impossible due to his late-start in the U.S.) and maintain the same consistency as he's had over 10 years, Ichiro would attain 4,850 hits. Rose holds the major league record with 4,256. 

Year	Age	Tm	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB
2001	27	SEA	157	738	692	127	242	34	8	8	69	56	14	30	53	.350	.381	.457	.838	126	316
2002	28	SEA	157	728	647	111	208	27	8	8	51	31	15	68	62	.321	.388	.425	.813	120	275
2003	29	SEA	159	725	679	111	212	29	8	13	62	34	8	36	69	.312	.352	.436	.788	112	296
2004	30	SEA	161	762	704	101	262	24	5	8	60	36	11	49	63	.372	.414	.455	.869	130	320
2005	31	SEA	162	739	679	111	206	21	12	15	68	33	8	48	66	.303	.350	.436	.786	113	296
2006	32	SEA	161	752	695	110	224	20	9	9	49	45	2	49	71	.322	.370	.416	.786	106	289
2007	33	SEA	161	736	678	111	238	22	7	6	68	37	8	49	77	.351	.396	.431	.827	122	292
2008	34	SEA	162	749	686	103	213	20	7	6	42	43	4	51	65	.310	.361	.386	.747	102	265
2009	35	SEA	146	678	639	88	225	31	4	11	46	26	9	32	71	.352	.386	.465	.851	129	297
2010	36	SEA	162	732	680	74	214	30	3	6	43	42	9	45	86	.315	.359	.394	.754	113	268
10 Seasons			1588	7339	6779	1047	2244	258	71	90	558	383	88	457	683	.331	.376	.430	.806	117	2914
162 Game Avg.			162	749	692	107	229	26	7	9	57	39	9	47	70	.331	.376	.430	.806	117	297

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 10/5/2010.

One thing that's fascinating to note is that Pujols and Suzuki, both having played 10 full seasons in the majors (averaging 156 and 159 games per season, respectively), each have a lifetime batting average of .331, which tops all other active players.

Pujols is actually percentage points ahead, .3314 to .3310, despite having 344 fewer hits over the decade. Largely by virtue of being a lead-off hitter, Ichiro has 557 more plate appearances than Pujols, who typically bats third in the Cardinals' lineup. But this turns into 1,046 more at bats for Ichiro, due to Pujols drawing exactly twice as many walks, 914 vs. 457.