In 1994, he played in 130 games, with a batting average of .385, 13 home runs, 51 RBIs, and 29 stolen bases.

In 1995, he played in 130 games, with a batting average of .342, 25 home runs, 80 RBIs, and 49 stolen bases.

In addition to his expert batting and powerful feet, which are shown in the numbers, his defense as an outfielder is also impeccable, making him the Japanese player with the most major league qualities. At just 23 years old, he has the potential to improve even further.

By the way, baseball in the Pacific League underwent a major transformation in the 1990s. If we call this innovation, it was solely due to the expansion of baseball stadiums.

The Green Stadium Kobe in 1991, the Chiba Marine Stadium in 1992, and the Fukuoka Dome in 1993. The Pacific League said goodbye to “miniature baseball” earlier than the Central League.

Kintetsu, which missed out on the era of expanding baseball stadiums, has also begun construction of the Osaka Dome and has stated that it will move its home base there in 1997.

Due to the expansion of baseball stadiums, players with big bellies who could only hit the ball were no longer allowed to survive. In the midst of this, Ichiro appeared like a comet. It is safe to say that he is the flag-bearer of modern baseball.

Not to mention his batting, he contributed to the modernization of baseball with both his legs and shoulders. He led both leagues in infield hits for two consecutive years. His full-speed sprint to first base puts the opposing infielders under extreme tension, and he succeeded in branding fielders with shoulder or sprint problems as “unfit to be professionals.”

As a result, the following joke has even been born in the Pacific League.

A pitching coach from a certain baseball team speaks.

“These days, Pacific League pitchers have slimmed down and become slimmer. That’s because they’re sprinting all the way to first base to cover the base in order to stop Ichiro from hitting an infield hit. If they run too slowly, Ichiro will overtake them. Before games with Orix, they’re made to run hard in pitcher-catcher coordination drills, so they don’t have time to put on weight. I guess this is also a kind of ‘Ichiro effect.'”

The five Pacific League teams that were troubled by Ichiro’s leg also suffered greatly from his strong arm.

The most famous scene was on July 2nd of last year, in a game against Seibu, when the team was trailing by 5.5 games.

In the bottom of the first inning, with two outs and a runner on second base, Seibu’s No. 3 hitter Sasaki hit a ball to center field. Just as everyone thought he’d score, Ichiro’s back-home ball bounced twice and landed in catcher Nakajima’s mitt. Jackson (currently with the San Francisco Giants), the runner on second base, was tagged out just before home plate.

After witnessing this, Seibu coach Ihara was forced to take off his helmet and said, “It’s going to be difficult to win. Orix is ​​stronger than we can imagine.” This was a symbolic scene that heralded the change of leadership in the Pacific League.

Ichiro’s shoulder also exploded in the first game of the Japan Series. In the second inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, batter Arai (currently with Kintetsu) hit the ball to the right fielder. Ichiro caught it and sent a quick return throw to tag out the fleet-footed second base runner Manaka at home plate.