I found the picture posted above over the weekend when I was going through some boxes deciding what to put in an upcoming garage sale. Pictured is a copy of "Sports Nippon" from the day Ichiro Suzuki broke Japan's single season hit record as a rookie. On its own, the paper is interesting, but what made me decide to post it here and share the story is the fact that the date on the paper is September 15, 1994(exactly 20 years ago today). Can't beat the timing.
A large majority of the first three pages of the sports section of this national paper were dedicated to Ichiro's hit #192, which broke a record that had stood in Japan for 44 years. Check out the picture above that highlights Suzuki's unique swing.
One thing about the Japanese coverage that is interesting is how many statistics about Ichiro's feat are included. One part of the coverage breaks down Suzuki's performance into various splits including vs. LHP or RHP, by ball/strike count and home/road.
Apparently, while Tom Lawless and baseball folks in America were yet to disover numbers, 20 years ago, the Japanese baseball community was well on its way to integrating numbers into their enjoyment and understanding of the game.
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