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Mariners outfielder is the second rookie to win the award, edging Giambi by eight points.
By KEVIN KELLY
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 21, 2001
He already was more popular than Hideo Nomo and Kazuhiro Sasaki, the two most notable Japanese players in the majors before Ichiro Suzuki crossed the Pacific Ocean this year.
But by becoming the first rookie in 26 years to win the Most Valuable Player Award, as he did by taking the American League honor by the narrowest of margins Tuesday, Suzuki's star power from the Far East to the west coast of Washington has grown by untold bounds after one season with the Mariners.
"I don't know how the people in Japan will react to hear I won this award," the 28-year-old rightfielder said through an interpreter.
They'll react as anybody would if a favorite son left home and performed so aptly he'll now be mentioned in the same breath as past AL MVP winners like Lou Gehrig, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle.
And Fred Lynn, who with the Red Sox in 1975 became the only other player to win the MVP as a rookie.
"To be among those legendary players," Suzuki said, "I cannot be a regular ordinary player anymore."
That Mariners teammate Bret Boone also had a stellar season made this MVP race the tightest since Juan Gonzalez beat Alex Rodriguez by three points in 1996 because votes were split among three players.
Suzuki got 11 first-place votes cast by members of the Baseball Writers Association of America and 289 points. Oakland's Jason Giambi, the MVP in 2000, finished second with eight first-place votes and 281 points.
Boone was third.
"I'm very pleased and honored to be among those good players," said Suzuki, who planned to have a small celebration with his wife and a close friend Tuesday in Seattle.
A seven-time batting champ and three-time MVP in Japan, he was anything but ordinary this season.
"There's no way I can compare the MVPs in the two countries," Suzuki said. "No matter how many times I had won MVP in Japan, that didn't mean I could play with total confidence (in America)."
The Mariners signed him to a three-year contract worth a little more than $14-million only after they paid the Orix Blue Wave $13-million for the rights to Suzuki.
He backed up those figures with even better ones this season while displaying a powerful and accurate throwing arm that forced opponents to think twice before testing it.
With a slap-hitting style similar to that of Wade Boggs, Suzuki led the majors with a .350 average to become the first rookie to win a batting title since Tony Oliva in 1964. He stole 56 bases, struck out 53 times and his 242 hits were a rookie record.
"It is very hard for me to evaluate myself, how I did it," Suzuki said. "If I were a veteran player who spent several years in the major leagues, maybe I could take a look at who we have in the league and compare other players to myself. But this is my first year and it's hard for me to do that."
Giambi, the A's first baseman who may be the most valued free agent available this offseason, only improved from his 2000 season.
He hit .342 with 38 homers and 120 RBIs.
Boone, also a free agent, batted .331 with 37 homers and 141 RBIs in a breakout season for the second baseman.
"Because of (Boone's) presence I have had a distinctive role in the lineup and I could concentrate on my part in the lineup," Suzuki said. "That has been very important."