Ichiro broke the single season hits record that had stood for 84 years. In the process, he has also has the most hits over any four season period in MLB history.
It is unfortunate that some pundits have tried to discount his achievement, calling him a "singles hitter" or "slap hitter". As I recall, the object of the game is to get on base by putting it in play or getting put on base -- and then score. Ichiro isn't scoring as many runs this season (probably due to the lineup behind him), but he is hitting .370+ and has the most hits in MLB history in a 162-game season.
The bottom line is this: 259 times he put the ball in play and wasn't thrown out. Just looking at that number is mind-boggling, and it is WHY the record stood for so long until this year.
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