An Ichiro timeline, with career highlights

1973: Ichiro born on Oct. 22, in Kasugai Aichi prefecture, Japan.

1976: By age of 3, Ichiro already has his first baseball glove.

1991: Drafted by Orix BlueWave in fourth round of Japan's November draft.

1992: Finishes Aikoudai Meiden High School in March. Makes debut for the BlueWave, hitting .253 in 40 games, but spending most of the time in the minors. He has 95 plate appearances with 24 hits, five doubles and no home runs.

1994: BlueWave changes managers and Ichiro has huge season. In 130 games (the Japanese maximum) he hits .385 with 210 hits, 41 doubles, 13 home runs, 300 total bases and 29 stolen bases. His .385 mark wins the Japanese batting title (his first of seven consecutive titles) and his 210 hits is a record. Ichiro is named MVP.

1995: Leads league in several categories again. Some of the league-best marks: 104 runs, 179 hits, 285 total bases. Led outfielders with 14 assists and five double plays. Wins batting title with a .342 average, is RBI leader and again is named MVP.

1996: Wins batting title (.356), third gold glove and named MVP.

April 16-June 25, 1997: Establishes record of 216 consecutive at-bats without striking out.

1997: Ichiro has 185 hits, scores 95 runs, a Japanese career-high 91 RBI, all while hitting . 345.

1998: Hits .358 with 71 RBI and 181 hits. Wins batting title and gold glove for fifth straight time.

1999: In addition to his usual offensive accolades, Ichiro also sports a 1.000 fielding percentage.

2000: Sets single-season PCL batting average record with .387, while knocking in 73 runs.

April 2, 2001: Makes major league debut with Mariners, going 3 for 5.

April 22-May 18, 2001: Ichiro compiles a 23-game hitting streak, is named rookie of the month for April.

July 2001: Voted to All-Star Game with record 3,373,035 votes. Just the sixth rookie to start an All-Star Game. He goes 1 for 3 with a single coming off Randy Johnson in the first inning.

Aug. 28, 2001: Collects his 200th hit, matching Darin Erstad (2000) as fastest player to reach 200 hits since 1935. August 2001: Leads league with 51 hits in a month.

2001 season results: Wins AL batting title with .350 average, leads league in stolen bases with 56 and is named AL MVP.

2002 season results: Ichiro completes the season with 208 hits, 111 runs, 27 doubles and a .321 average, and 31 stolen bases. He leads the M's in average and was second in the majors in hits.

2003 season results: Ichiro has 212 hits, 111 runs scored and hits 13 home runs. Led majors with 66 multi-hit games.

2004 season results: Sets major-league season hits record with 262, surpassing George Sisler's 257 set in 1920. Leads majors with a .372 average, winning his second batting title. Ichiro also sets a club record with 80 multi-hit games, again leading the majors. Also stole 36 bases and scored 101 runs.

2005 season results: Ichiro plays in all 162 games (he has never played fewer than 157 with the Mariners), hitting .303 with a career-best 15 home runs and 68 RBI. Scores 111 runs and steals 33 bases.

2006 season results: Hits .322 with 9 homers, 49 RBI, steals 45 bases (caught just twice). For the sixth straight year, he is named to the All-Star Game and wins a gold glove.

2007 season: A great first half -- a .359 batting average, 5 home runs, 39 RBI, 23 stolen bases.