Leading Man. (cover story)

This article discusses the importance of batting leadoff in baseball, and profiles notable leadoff hitter, Ichiro Suzuki. As a leadoff hitter, Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners cherishes the perks of the job. "What I like," he says through an interpreter, "is that for my first at bat I can step into the batter's box and it is clean and perfect." Tidiness aside, the real bonus to the job is that the leadoff man gets more times at bat during a season than any other hitter in the lineup. So if the leadoff hitter takes more turns at bat than any other hitter, why do managers do such a poor job of selecting them? In 2001, for instance, leadoff hitters reached base at a worse rate (.331) than the average hitter (.332). Former New York Mets manager Art Howe made such misguided choices last year that his leadoff hitters had a worse on-base percentage (.291) than every other spot in the lineup except ninth, the pitcher's place. In other words, he was giving his worst every-day hitters the most turns at bat. Even Suzuki, despite his major-league-best .418 OBP out of the leadoff spot, was a flawed first hitter because his lack of extra-base hits often required two subsequent at bats to drive him home rather than one.