The All-Star weekend in St. Louis provided Ichiro Suzuki an opportunity to honor the man who held the single-season hits record for 84 years before the Seattle star broke the mark with 262 in 2004.

St. Louis Browns star George Sisler had collected 257 hits in 1920, and Ichiro, in town for his ninth All-Star game, placed flowers at the Hall of Famer’s gravesite. When Ichiro broke the record in October 2004, Sisler's descendants, including his 81-year-old daughter, Frances Sisler Drochelman, traveled to Seattle to witness the historic feat. In St. Louis this weekend, Ichiro returned the favor.

"I wanted to do that for a grand upperclassman of the baseball world," Ichiro told MLB.com. "I think it's only natural for someone to want to do that, to express my feelings in that way."

Recognizing one of the greats of the North American game was especially noteworthy, considering Ichiro didn’t grow up following the major leagues on this continent. He said he did what came natural, but he deserves credit for doing what most of his peers are less inclined to do: honor those who came before them.

That may sound like the typical sour grapes of a major leaguer after he retires. The old-timers always believe the young ones lack the same respect for the game, but there’s some truth to that.

After reading of Ichiro’s gesture, this writer can’t help but think of another former St. Louis star, Curt Flood. The seven-time Gold Glove winner played a key role in baseball’s labor movement, when he refused to accept a 1969 trade and challenged MLB’s reserve clause in court. Although he lost his case before the U.S. Supreme Court, the process sparked solidarity among players and the reserve clause was defeated in 1975, opening the door to free agency.

Flood was a pivotal figure in improving the lot of today’s major leaguers, but when he died in 1997, the story goes that not one active player attended his funeral. Ichiro seems to have a greater appreciation of his game’s history -- on either side of the Pacific.