there is no other player like ichiro

This is a cool Sports Illustrated piece from a few weeks back, in which Joe Posnanski makes the bold claim, then carefully makes the case that There has never been a player like Ichiro, and there likely never will.

Sure, there hasn't been any shortage major league greats throughout baseball's history, but many of them can be categorized together as good-but-similar... And none are quite like Ichiro Suzuki. Here are some Ichiro facts:

He has played nine seasons... and he has led the American league in singles ALL NINE YEARS. Nobody else has ever led a league in singles nine times.

He missed the entire 2000 season (he was still playing in Japan)... and still had more hits than any player in the decade -- he had 90 more hits than second-place Derek Jeter.

As Bill James points out... only Pete Rose, Sam Rice and Rogers Hornsby managed 2,000 hits in a decade. Ichiro, though, was the only one of the four to miss an entire season in that decade.

And here's a fun little list you can carry around in your wallet.

Most times with 260 hits: Ichiro (1)

Most times with 240 hits: Ichiro and Sisler (2)

Most times with 230 hits: Ichiro (3)

Most times with 220 hits: Ichiro (5)

Most times with 210 hits: Ichiro, Cobb, Paul Waner (9)

Most times with 200 hits: Rose (10); Ichiro and Cobb (9)

Ichiro is the only player to have nine consecutive 200-hit seasons, as well as a host of other brilliant accomplishments. There really is no other player like him in baseball. And did I mention that he's 36 years old, and still going strong?