View from America

By Kevin Asseo BBC Sport in California

There are some records in baseball that have endured for so many years they are all but forgotten.

Suzuki has a novel way of getting runs

Until this year, George Sisler's record of 257 hits in a season was one of those forgotten marks.

Since the late, great Sisler set the record in 1920, no player had come within 15 hits of breaking it.

Until Ichiro.

Ichiro Suzuki, the Seattle Mariners' right fielder, who came to America from Japan in 2001, has just surpassed the 84-year-old record.

It is fitting the record dates back to the early 20th Century, because Ichiro is the type of player the Major Leagues had not seen since that bygone era.

All Ichiro does is hit singles, like the hitters in the B.B. era - 'Before Babe' - when Babe Ruth had to yet to popularize the home run.

More than 80 percent of Ichiro's hits this season have been for one base, and he has already broken the 106-year-old record for singles in a season, an amazing feat considering baseball's current obsession with the slugger.

However, Ichiro's proclivity for singles makes him almost a novelty act at the plate.

He will attempt to bunt or ground a ball to the left side for an infield single no matter the game situation, often at the expense of the team's goals.

The Mariners were out of the race so long ago that it is difficult to blame Ichiro for using whatever means necessary to break a prestigious record, but to see him lay down a bunt with two outs and runners in scoring position is frustrating nonetheless.

It is safe to say his slap-hitting act would not go over well if he were playing for a team in a battle for a post-season berth.

He is a supremely talented player and deserves credit for the record, but to those in Seattle lobbying for Ichiro to be a Most Valuable Player candidate, think again.

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The most shocking news to come out of Major League baseball in the build-up to the play-offs came from Anaheim.

Guillen was in a sulky mood

In the middle of a dramatic race for a play-off spot with just over a week to go in the regular season, the Angels announced they were suspending outfielder Jose Guillen without pay for the rest of the season, including the play-offs.

The announcement came the day after Guillen threw an on-field tantrum when he was pulled for a pinch runner in the eighth inning of the Angels' 5-3 win over Oakland.

Guillen's reaction - he sulked off the field at a snail's pace, tossed his helmet in the direction of manager Mike Scioscia, and slammed his glove off the dugout wall - was childish to be sure, but not exactly unheard of in Major League baseball.

For the Angels to say goodbye to the man who ranks second on the team in hits, home runs, and RBIs during the most critical stretch of the season, surely there is more to it than meets the eye.

Guillen's habit of whinging to the media certainly did not endear him to his team-mates, and though the Angels are not talking specifics, general manager Bill Stoneman admitted "this was not the first time something has cropped up with Jose".

It is never a good sign when a player has played for five teams over the past four seasons, as Guillen has, but kicking him off the team at this point is risky at best.

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Not often can a football team score a total of 35 points over its first three games and win all three of them, but that is just what the Jacksonville Jaguars have done to start the NFL season.

The Jags are the Cinderella story of the new campaign thus far, with miraculous last-minute wins over Buffalo and Tennessee on the road and a one-point win over Denver at home.

The most intriguing contest of week four in the NFL is the meeting between the Jaguars and the Indianapolis Colts, who scored as many points in the first half of their win over Green Bay as Jacksonville has all season.

Each NFL season produces a team that comes out of nowhere and becomes a sensation. This year, the Jacksonville Jaguars look ready to fill that role.

And they have every incentive, with Super Bowl XXXIX taking place at their Alltel Stadium on 6 February...