Seatte’s Ichiro is back for a seventh season -- and possibly his final one -- with the Seattle Mariners. Over the six-year span that he has been in Seattle, he easily leads the majors in hits (1,354, roughly 226 a season) and hitting (.331). He's been a dependable leadoff man, and now he fills another key role by moving to center field, something he's been reluctant to do.

Look for more of the same at the plate. Ichiro, who led the majors with 71 multihit games in 2006, had four hits or more in six games last season. That gives him a total of 30 games with at least four hits in just six big league seasons. Only 42 players since the expansion era began in 1961 have notched 30 games with at least four hits, though each of them had a much longer career than Ichiro. The Mariners’ outfielder ranks near the top of the list for four-hit games among active players.

Most Games with Four-Plus Hits, Active Players

Player. . . . . . . . . Yrs. . . . . . . . . . . Gms
Ivan Rodriguez. . . .16. . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Bernie Williams. . . 16. . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Craig Biggio . . . . . 19. . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Kenny Lofton. . . . 16. . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Ichiro. . . . . . . . . . 6. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Todd Helton. . . . . 10. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Alex Rodriguez. . . .13. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Barry Bonds. . . . . .21. . . . . . . . . . . . 30