Ichiro Suzuki knew he was MVP good. He just wasn’t sure that America’s baseball writers would catch on to his greatness.
“I’m not surprised about how I did it this year,” Ichiro said through a translator of his amazing rookie season yesterday after being named the American League’s MVP in one of the closest votes in the award’s 70-year history, “but I am very surprised other people out there evaluated me like you did today . . . I was surprised that I was first place.”
This award is a resounding victory for Japanese baseball. Ichiro won three MVP awards in Japan and came here this season on a mission to prove Japanese position players could compete with the world’s best.
The Seattle right fielder did more than compete. Ichiro won AL Rookie of the Year honors last week and edged Oakland slugger Jason Giambi, 289 points to 281, to win the Most Valuable Player award. He becomes only the second Rookie of the Year to win the MVP. Boston’s Fred Lynn accomplished the feat in 1975.
Ichiro’s double play comes with an asterisk because he starred nine years in Japan’s Pacific League and wasn’t like any other rookie. He received 11 first-place MVP votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America voters while Giambi, who batted .342 with 38 homers and 129 RBIs, garnered eight.
This was the 10th tightest MVP race of all time and the closest since Juan Gonzalez defeated Alex Rodriguez 290-287 for the AL award in 1996.
Ichiro batted .350 as he became the first rookie to win the batting title since Tony Oliva in 1964. Since 1957 only three AL MVP winners have managed a higher average. Mickey Mantle batted .365 in 1957, 20 years later Rod Carew hit .377 and in 1990 George Brett posted a .390 mark. Ichiro also led the league with 56 stolen bases.
The last player to lead either league in average and stolen bases was Jackie Robinson in 1949. Ichiro’s 242 hits were the most in the majors since New York Giants’ Bill Terry collected 254 in 1930. The numbers are stunning.
In his first year in the majors, Ichiro’s name is now alongside some of the game’s all-time greats. He said that would motivate him to be even better next season.
“To be among those legendary players, I can not be a regular ordinary player anymore,” he said through an interpreter. “I need to make the fans and my teammates happy and pleased.”
Asked how he would have voted in this MVP race, Ichiro took the politically correct route, “It is very hard and difficult for me to rank those candidates,” he said. “There are a lot of candidates, for example, Mr. Giambi, Mr. [Bret] Boone, Mr. Alex Rodriguez and Mr. Juan Gonzalez and Mr. Roger Clemens.”
Ichiro signed a three-year contract worth $14 million. He earned a $150,000 bonus for MVP honors and $75,000 for the Rookie of the Year award. He batted a major-league best .445 with runners in scoring position, slapping the ball to all fields. Don’t expect him to turn into a power hitter next season.
“If I started hitting with my power,” said Ichiro, who slashed eight home runs this season, “I’d probably lose who I am as a player.”
No matter where in the world they come from, all ballplayers know you don’t mess with MVP success.
