18 days until Spring Training: Can you guess when Ichiro will record his 3,000th MLB hit?
Entering his 16th season at age 42, Ichiro Suzuki is 65 MLB hits away from 3,000. When the Marlins announced he was coming back to Miami on Oct. 6, it seemingly became a matter of when, not if, one of MLB's most exciting, interesting and entertaining players would become the 30th member of the exclusive club.
Of course, Ichiro spent the first nine seasons of his career as an All-Star in Japan, so by the time he reaches the 3,000 hit plateau here in the States, he'll be at 4,278 for his career. Still, his return was cause for celebration.
While it's possible Ichiro doesn't break 65 hits this season, it seems very likely that he will (barring injury). And to celebrate his and the Marlins' upcoming 2016 season, we're holding a sweepstakes on Twitter to see who can guess when, to the day, he'll record his 3,000th hit.
On which date will Ichiro record his 3,000th @MLB hit? Guess correctly and you could win. https://t.co/MdiMzYCeY9
— Cut4 (@Cut4) January 31, 2016
First, a few things to know so you can make an educated guess:
* Ichiro had 91 hits in 153 games in 2015, the lowest season total of his career.
* If Ichiro records one hit per Marlins game in 2016, he'll record his 65th hit on June 14 at Petco Park (and also break Joe DiMaggio's streak, nbd).
* If he records one hit every other game, he'll record his 65th hit on Aug. 28 at Marlins Park versus the Padres.
* If he averages the same hits-to-games ratio (.595) as 2015, he'll record his 65th hit on Aug. 6 at Coors Field.
If he records his 65th hit of 2016 on the same exact day as his 65th hit of 2015, he'll do it on Aug. 9 versus the Giants.
If Ichiro makes it really exciting and waits to record his 65th hit during the Marlins' last game of the season, he'll do so on Oct. 2 versus the Nationals.
Here's where you come in: Guess the date of the game in which Ichiro records his 3,000th hit, and you could win an authentic Ichiro jersey.
Reply to @Cut4 on Twitter with your guess and the hashtag #Ichiro3000 by the end of Opening Day (April 3, 2016 at 11:59 p.m. EST). Once Ichiro reaches 3,000, a winner will be chosen from all of the correct guesses. Check out the rules here.
And if you don't end up winning, here's a pre-consolation prize -- a GIF of Ichiro pitching: