Ichiro Suzuki

In addition to these records, Ichiro also started in the All-Star Game for the fourth consecutive year, and led all leadoff hitters in batting average, on base percentage, and on-base plus slugging. Levitt subsequently lost much of his wealth in unsuccessful investments. Ichiro set a number of Major League records during the 2004 season:. Levitt & Sons was sold to ITT International Telephone & Telegraph in 1968 for a reported $90 million. Ichiro's career is followed closely in his native Japan, with national television news programs covering each of his at-bats, and with special tour packages arranged for Japanese fans to visit the United States to view his games. In 1959 the community was annexed by Bowie. Continuing the custom he began in Japan, he uses his given name on the back of his uniform, instead of his surname, becoming the first player in Major League Baseball to do so since Vida Blue. In 1957 they acquired the historic Belair estate, home of Maryland's colonial Governor Samuel Ogle and his famous Belair Stables.

His success has opened the door for other Japanese players like Yomiuri Giants slugger Hideki Matsui to enter the Major Leagues. During the late 1950s, Levitt and Sons also developed the commmuity known as "Belair at Bowie," in Bowie, Maryland. Ichiro was also a four-time Gold Glove winner from 2001 through 2004. Levittown, Puerto Rico, built in the 1960s, was also one of Levitt's projects. Some sportswriters criticized his official "rookie" status, saying that his years of experience in the Japanese "major leagues" gave him an unfair advantage over other rookie players who had little or no prior major league experience. A third Levittown of 12,000 houses was built in southern New Jersey, although it has since reverted to its former name of Willingboro to avoid confusion with the neighboring Levittown community in Bucks County, Pennsylvania. At season's end, he won the American League Most Valuable Player and the Rookie of the Year awards, becoming only the second player in MLB history (after Fred Lynn) to receive both honors in the same season. Levitt went on to plan and build another 17,000 home Levittown in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, which saw its first residents in 1952.

Aided by Major League Baseball's decision to allow All-Star voting in Japan, Ichiro was the first rookie to lead all players in voting for the All-Star Game. Levittown, New York eventually grew to over 17,000 houses. 25-31). The residents would come to be known as Levittowners. (Whiting, 2004, pp. Houses sold for under $7000, a low price even by 1947 standards. In Seattle, ticket sales (and wins) were higher than ever, fans from Japan were taking $2,000 baseball tours to see the games, more than 150 Japanese reporters and photographers were clamoring for access, and "Ichirolls" were being sold at sushi stands in the ballpark.The flight agencies also benefited from Ichiro, many Ichiro fans were flying in and out of the country just to see him play. Residents started moving into Levittown, New York in 1947.

By mid-season, he had produced hitting streaks of 15 and 23 games, been on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and created a media storm on both sides of the Pacific. The result was high-quality, nearly identical houses that were built for subtantially less than what they would have normally cost. Not only did he prove he belonged, Ichiro had a remarkable 2001 season, accumulating 242 hits (the most by any player since 1930) and leading the league with a .350 batting average and 56 stolen bases. Other construction groups would work in the same manner, adding their part to the house lot by lot. Up to that point, only pitchers from Japan had been playing in the United States and, in the same way that many Japanese teams had considered the 18-year-old Ichiro too small to draft in 1992, many in the US believed he was too frail to succeed against Major League pitching or endure the longer 162-game season. The slab laying group would go down the street laying concrete slabs for house after house, 60 feet apart. Ichiro's move to the United States was viewed with great interest because he was the first Japanese position player to play regularly for a Major League Baseball team. Groups of workers would descend on a new, empty street.

In his nine seasons in Japan, Ichiro was a career .353 batter and, in addition to his hitting achievements, won seven Gold Glove Awards. In Levitt's home-building assembly line, the product (houses) obviously could not move. Ichiro signed a three-year, $14 million contract with the Mariners and became the first Japanese-born everyday position player in the Major Leagues. In normal assembly lines, the workers stay stationary and the product moves down the line. After the 2000 season, in which Ichiro posted his highest batting average (.387), a Pacific League record (U.S.-born Randy Bass, former Hanshin Tigers player, holds the highest single-season batting average in Japanese baseball history with .389 in 1986), Seattle won a bidding war among Major League teams for the rights to negotiate with him on a contract. Levitt's innovation in creating this planned community was to build the houses in the manner of an assembly line. In a move both charitable and practical, Manager Akira Ogi decided to release Ichiro from any obligations to the team and allow him to pursue his dream. The Company named it Levittown.

In 2000, Ichiro was still a year away from being eligible for free agency, but the Blue Wave were no longer among Japan's best teams and would probably not be able to afford to keep him. Levitt & Sons chose an area known as Island Trees near Hempstead, Long Island as the site for its huge building project after the war. Following the 1996 season, playing in an exhibition series against a visiting team of Major League All-Stars kindled Ichiro's desire to travel to the United States to play in the Major Leagues. After returning from the war, during which he served in the Navy as a lieutenant in the Seabees, William Levitt saw a need for affordable housing for the returning veterans. By this time, the Japanese press had begun calling him the "Human Batting Machine." The following year, with Ichiro winning his third straight MVP award, the team defeated the Central League champion Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series. Prior to World War II, Levitt & Sons built mostly upscale housing in and around Long Island, New York. In addition to his second batting title, he led the league in RBIs with 80, hit 25 home runs, and stole 49 bases. Design duties were handled by William's brother Alfred.

In 1995 Ichiro led the Blue Wave to their first Pacific League pennant in 12 years. As President of Levitt & Sons, the real-estate development company founded by his father Abraham Levitt near the start of the Great Depression, William Levitt oversaw all aspects of the company but design of the homes they built. 13-16). . (Whiting, 2004, pp. He certainly did not invent the building of communities of affordable single-family homes within driving distance of major areas of employment; yet his innovations in providing affordable housing popularized this type of planned community in the years following World War II. Initially, Ichiro disliked and was embarrassed by the practice, but by the end of the season "Ichiro" was a household word and he was being flooded with endorsement offers. William Jaird Levitt (February 11, 1907 - January 28, 1994), is the real-estate developer widely credited as the father of modern American suburbia.

Suzuki was the second most common surname in Japan, and his manager introduced the idea as a publicity stunt to help create a new image for what had been a relatively weak team, as well as a way to distinguish their rising star. He has too much to do." (1948). It was during the 1994 season that he became known as "Ichiro". "No man who owns his own house and lot can be a Communist. He also hit 13 home runs and had 29 stolen bases, helping him to earn his first of three straight Pacific League Most Valuable Player awards. He responded by setting a Japanese single-season record with 210 hits in 130 games for a then-Pacific League record .385 batting average and won the first of a record seven consecutive batting titles.

In 1994 he benefited from the arrival of a new manager who put him in the leadoff spot for the Blue Wave and allowed him to hit any way he wanted. "pendulum batting style" due to the pendulum-like motion of the leg, shifting the weight forward as he swung the bat), was considered to go against conventional baseball wisdom, which insisted that the weight must remain on the rear leg in order to hit the ball effectively. The swing, nicknamed 振り子打法 (furiko dahō) (i.e. Ichiro made his Pacific League debut in 1992 at the age of 18, but he spent most of his first two seasons with a farm team due to his manager's refusal to accept Ichiro's unorthodox swing.

2-12). (Whiting, 2004, pp. Yet, despite the production of outstanding numbers in high school, Ichiro was not drafted until the fourth and final round of the professional draft in November 1991 because many teams were put off by his small size, 5'9", 120 pounds (54 kg). These exercises helped develop his wrists and hips, adding power and endurance to his thin frame.

Among the strength drills he performed in training there were hurling car tires and hitting wiffleballs with a heavy shovel. We have to make him spiritually strong." When he was ready to enter high school, Ichiro was selected by a school with a prestigious baseball program, Nagoya's Aikodai Meiden Kōkō, where, unlike as a professional, Ichiro was primarily a pitcher instead of an outfielder, owing to his exceptionally strong arm. When Ichiro joined his junior high school baseball team, his father told the coach, "No matter how good Ichiro is, don't ever praise him. According to Ichiro, "It bordered on hazing and I suffered a lot.".

Nobuyuki claimed, "Baseball was fun for both of us," but Ichiro later said, "It might have been fun for him, but for me it was a lot like "Star of the Giants," a popular Japanese manga series that told of a young boy's difficult road to success as a professional baseball player, partially due to rigorous training demanded by the father). By age 12, he had set professional baseball as his goal and, while he apparently shared his father's vision, he did not enjoy their training sessions. As a Little Leaguer, Ichiro had the word shūchū (集中 — "concentration") written on his glove.
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The two began a daily routine which included:. At age seven, Ichiro joined his first baseball team and asked his father, Nobuyuki Suzuki (鈴木宣之 Suzuki Nobuyuki), to teach him to be a better player. . 2004 was his most impressive (offensive) season yet, as he set several MLB records, including a new all-time, single-season Major League record with 262 hits.

He became the first Japanese-born everyday position player in the Major Leagues. When the Blue Wave granted his release after the 2000 season, Ichiro signed a contract with the Mariners. He moved to the United States in 2001 after playing for seven years for the Orix Blue Wave in Japan's Pacific League.
Ichiro Suzuki (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō, イチロー, born October 22, 1973 in Toyoyama, Nishikasugai, Aichi Prefecture, Japan) is the right fielder for the Seattle Mariners Major League Baseball team.

Ichiro's 704 at bats fell one short of Willie Wilson's record of 705. His 225 Singles in 2004 shattered the previous all-era record of 206, set by Wee Willie Keeler in 1898. October 3: Ichiro completed the 2004 season with 262 hits and an MLB-leading .372 batting average. His 257th hit also set the Major League record for most hits over any four-year span, with 919.

Louis Browns in 1920. October 1: Ichiro collected his 258th and 259th hits, breaking the record set by George Sisler with the St. Ichiro bettered the modern (post-1900) record of 198 set by Lloyd Waner of Pittsburgh in 1927. September 17: He broke the major league record with his 199th single of the season in the seventh.

August 28: He became the first player in MLB history to have three 50-hit months in a single season. August 26: With a home run off of Kansas City Royals reliever Jeremy Affeldt, Ichiro became the first player in Major League history to reach 200 hits in each of his first four seasons. hitting 250-300 pitches from a machine. fielding 50 infield balls and 50 outfield balls, and.

hitting 200 pitches from Nobuyuki. throwing 50 pitches.