Ichiro Suzuki has been doing damage to the Yankees team for a long period of his eleven-year career as a MLB player. Having an individual record of a .329 batting average against the Yankees pitching staff (let’s not forget he bats .323 against the team’s ace CC Sabathia) doesn’t change the fact that the Mariners as a whole have never had a repetition of their 2001 season of 116 wins. But like the old saying goes, “if you can’t beat them, why not join them.”
In a last minute trade on Monday, the veteran outfielder, who by the way has 10 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Slugger’s, and was the MVP and Rookie of the Year in 2001, just to name some of his accomplishments, was traded to the New York Yankees in exchange for two minor league pitchers from the pinstripe camp.
Sure, his ’12 season has not been in typical Ichiro form; he’s batting just .261. But being that I’ve always been a fan of his in the opponent uniform, I’m glad to see he’s in a NY uniform now. A lot of the media always say that even the best players from other teams might not be able to handle the New York spotlight, but I say we give the Japanese megastar a chance. With a career .322 average, there’s no doubt that there’s improvement for his 2012 season, especially when you have Kevin Long as your hitting coach.
Age is also another factor some fans are looking at. I mean let’s face it, he’s not the youngest guy in the league. The fact of the matter is that the Yankees have an aging roster, but let’s not forget that this aging roster has names that are future Hall of Famers, including Ichiro Suzuki who has for a long time been in the talks of being inducted.
He went 1-for-4 in his debut game on July 23rd as a Yankee and it’s too early to tell how he’ll adjust under the bright lights New York City offers, but maybe this is the year where he finally wins a World Series ring.
