Higher plane: in Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki's world, 'see the ball, hit the ball' applies on so many levels

A respected batter once stopped by Ichiro Suzuki's locker with some pregame advice. The player noted that if Ichiro simply learned to be more patient and not chase so many bad pitches, he would have a legitimate shot at hitting .400. Ichiro listened to his teammate's reasoning, thanked him for his thoughts--then continued with the same approach he has used since his days in Japan: swing at anything he considers hittable.

"I've heard that (advice) in Japan, and I've heard it here, too," Ichiro says, "but frankly, I find it very naive. True, if you look at one at-bat in isolation, there are instances where you could say if I had just laid off a particular pitch, I could have walked. But if I actually tried to apply that thinking to my batting for an entire season, it would be detrimental. If you could have all of your hits and then selectively apply patience to some of the other at-bats, that would be great. But it doesn't work that way."

This is a player who knows what works. In 2004, Ichiro broke an 84-year-old record with 262 hits. Now in his fifth major league season, he had the best April of his career. Ichiro, who has 963 hits in 663 career games, is on pace to reach 1,000 hits in fewer than 700 games. The only player to do that since 1900 is Hall of Famer Chuck Klein, who reached 1,000 in 1933 in his 683rd game.

Ichiro's success can be attributed to numerous things, including hand-eye coordination that a veteran scout says is the best he has ever seen. Ichiro also has an unparalleled focus on his craft. Ever the perfectionist, he always is thinking about hitting. In an interview with the SPORTING NEWS that was conducted in Japanese, Ichiro discusses his approach and philosophy to the art of hitting a 90mph pitch with a 31 1/2-ounce bat.

Not as good as a hit

Of the 77 players who had at least 500 plate appearances in the American League last year, Ichiro tied for 48th with 49 walks--and his were in 704 at-bats. Subtract his league-leading 19 intentional walks, and Ichiro worked pitchers for 30 free passes. That's one unintentional walk for every 23.5 at-bats; the major league average is roughly one every 10 at-bats.

The man who just wants to hit hints that even 30 walks might be 30 too many. "I don't know of many fans who go to the ballpark hoping to see a hitter draw a walk," Ichiro says. "So, if the debate is about walks, then rather than thinking of ways to increase them, I think it would be far more productive to figure out ways to lower them by turning those at-bats into hits. If you put your energy toward productive thinking like that, you'd be increasing your potential as a hitter. I'd rather be known as the kind of player who thinks and works like that."

There was a pinch of sarcasm in that proclamation. Ichiro is not seriously looking to further expand his strike zone. But he is motivated to reduce what he calls his mistakes and turn outs into hits.

Ichiro particularly was consumed with such thoughts early last season, even as he was collecting 50 hits and batting .400 in May. Something wasn't right to him.

"The nature of batting is such that even if a pitcher gives you 10 tosses right down the middle, you're still not going to bat 1.000," he says. "That's just the way it is, and I accept that. Now, since pitchers don't just lob it in there like that, there are also times they're just going to outright beat you. I accept that, too. But now you've got the rest of your at-bats. Pitches I believe I should have been able to connect on for a hit but didn't for some reason are my mistakes. That's what I want to reduce.

"At that time, despite what the numbers might say, I felt like I was making an inordinate amount of mistakes. For a long time, I thought it was my mental state, but the longer it persisted, I started thinking maybe there's a physical problem in the way I move toward the ball."

On goes the light

The elusive clue finally came to Ichiro. The Mariners were finishing a homestand with an afternoon game against the Rangers on July 1. As Ichiro stood in his customary spot on the first base side of the cage during batting practice, a thought popped into his mind: What if he made a subtle change to his stance?

As he often does while waiting in that grassy patch, Ichiro made a few exaggerated golflike swings. Liking the way they felt, he used the slightly altered stance in the cage. A bit more intrigued, he used the stance in that day's game. He had a single and two doubles in his first three at-bats. He got two more hits the next night at St. Louis, and beginning July 4 he went on a 21-game hitting streak. Ichiro wound up with 51 hits and a .432 average for the month.

"Pitches that I had previously been trying to foul off but was inadvertently popping up or grounding out I was now able to foul off with greater accuracy and stay alive. What I gained with the change was simply a feeling, so it's difficult to describe, but what I can say with confidence is because of the change, I've been able to increase my ability to get hits off of pitches that I previously thought I should be hitting but wasn't. And that's the goal, to be able to hit with authority the pitches you feel you should be able to hit."