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When Ichiro Suzuki arrived in America, he took the baseball world by storm. The 9-year veteran of the Japan Pacific League, Ichiro let the AL in hits, steals, and batting average in his first season in the bigs.

His performance earned him the 2001 Rookie of the Year Award. Ichiro received 27 of the 28 first-place votes. Cleveland pitcher CC Sabathia received the single outlying nod. The southpaw went 17-5 with 171 strikeouts in an impressive campaign.

Twenty-four years later both Ichiro and CC entered Cooperstown together as first-ballot selections.

When Sabathia signed the contract shown above, the baseball season in his junior year in high school had not yet begun. Though he held great promise, no one would dare envision the level of performance he’d reach by the end of his time at Vallejo High School in California.

In 45 2/3 innings he struck out 82 batters while allowing only 14 hits. He went undefeated for the Apaches and was named the top high school prospect in Northern California by Baseball America.

The same month he graduated from Vallejo, the Cleveland Indians made him their first-round selection in the 1998 amateur draft. Three years later he and Ichiro had their memorable rookie seasons.

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George Sisler hit .407 in the 1920 season in which he set the Major League record with 257 hits. Gorgeous George lived the rest of his days as the record holder before passing away in March of 1973.

Seven months after Sisler’s death Ichiro Suzuki was born in Japan. Suzuki grew up an ocean away from the United States but made waves in America’s National Pastime. After 9 years and 1,287 with the Orix Blue Wave in Japan’s Pacific League, Ichiro came to the USA’s Major Leagues in 2001.

He made an immediate impact, hitting .350 with 242 hits to capture both the Rookie of the Year Award and MVP Awards. In each of his first ten seasons, Ichiro collected at least 208 hits.

In 2004 he eclipsed Sisler’s 84-year old mark by tallying 262 safeties. By the end of his first decade in America, the Mariners outfielder had 2,244 hits, a .331 average, and ten all star appearances.

In the collection is this 3×5 card signed by both Sisler and Ichiro.

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Ichiro Suzuki was a 9-year veteran of professional baseball by the time he made his MLB debut in 2001. Starring for the Orix Blue Wave of the Japanese Pacific League, he compiled a .353 average and .422 on-base percentage from 1992-2000.

Then he crossed the Pacific and took his game to America. Soon he became a hero in two countries.

Ichiro led the AL in stolen bases and hits while topping the circuit with a .350 batting average. He was named Rookie of the Year and American League Most Valuable Player.

An all star in each of his first ten big league seasons, Ichiro led the league in hits in 7 seasons between 2001-2010. During that decade of play he averaged .331 and recorded 200 or more in every season.

In the collection is this ticket to Ichiro’s first appearance in an American All Star game. The no-doubt Hall of Famer has signed the front of the ticket to the game that was played in Seattle, home of Ichiro’s Mariners.

Ichiro delighted the Seattle fans with a single in his first at bat. It came off of former Mariner and future Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.

By the time he reitred, Ichiro had 3,089 hits in the US to go along with his 1,287 in Japan. He is one of the 9 men to record more than 4,000 professional hits.