NEW YORK -- Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki, now a batting champion on both sides of the Pacific, was selected Monday as the American League Rookie of the Year by the Baseball Writers Association of America.
Ichiro became the third Japanese player to win the prestigious award, following in the footsteps of Hideo Nomo, who won with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1995, and last season's winner, teammate relief pitcher Kazuhiro Sasaki.
Ichiro, who claimed the AL batting title with an average of .350, also topped the league in stolen bases (56) and won a Golden Glove award. Now he can add Rookie of the Year honors to his collection of trophies.
"I felt this was an award I should have won without any doubt, so I was relieved when I heard the announcement," the normally reticent Ichiro said.
In the 2001 season, the former Orix BlueWave star also had 242 hits, 69 RBIs and eight home runs. He broke the 90-year-old single-season record for hits by a rookie.
The 28-year-old, the first Japanese position player to earn a spot on a major league roster, had won seven straight batting titles in Japan's Pacific League.
He helped the Mariners tie the major league record with 116 wins, only to be defeated by the New York Yankees in five games in the AL Championship Series.
In balloting by the Baseball Writers' Association of America, Ichiro garnered 28 of the possible 29 first-place votes to top the standings with 138 points, easily beating Cleveland Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia, who had 75 points after going 17-5 with a 4.39 ERA.