Ichiro 3000 Hit Watch

[mrbig1]

I've been a baseball fan since 1964. IMO Ichiro is the greatest player I've ever seen. The only thing he does not have is power. He is a four tool player to the max.

[DrungoHazewood]

I've been a baseball fan since 1964. IMO Ichiro is the greatest player I've ever seen. The only thing he does not have is power. He is a four tool player to the max.

I think he's arguably the most fun player of my baseball fandom (since '79). He's one of the most interesting. He has a batting approach that is very different, often making me think of oldtimers I've only read about who put great value on contact often at the expense of bat speed and power. His approach almost without question would have been modified by American coaches if he'd been a teenager in he US, probably to his detriment. But I think quite a few others have won their teams more games, so I don't believe he's close to being the greatest player of even his era.

He should certainly be a first ballot/shoo-in Hall of Famer.

[bobmc]

I've been a baseball fan since 1964. IMO Ichiro is the greatest player I've ever seen. The only thing he does not have is power. He is a four tool player to the max.

I've been watching since '51 or so so I was "tainted" by Willie Mays and see him mostly as Drungo does. He does have power apparently....just ask Robbie Cano! I wonder if he will return to the NPBO and continue playing into his fifties as he believes? :scratchchinhmm:

"While Ichiro is known as a singles hitter -- he has had roughly 700 infield singles in his career -- he has power, too. He has 113 career home runs here, including 15 in 2005, 37 leadoff home runs and two walk-off home runs, one of which was against Mariano Rivera.

But it is during batting practice that his power is most on display. Ryness says he once saw Ichiro wink at somebody and then hit eight straight home runs. Winking or not, Ichiro will often blast balls into the stands. He recently sent several into the upper deck in Minnesota, which is not easy.

"I've never seen anybody like that, not anybody in my life that can do that, how far he hits it,'' Cano says. "I would love to see him in the Home Run Derby.''

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17127981/ichiro-reaches-3000-hits-following-meticulous-standards

[DrungoHazewood]

I've been watching since '51 or so so I was "tainted" by Willie Mays and see him mostly as Drungo does. He does have power apparently....just ask Robbie Cano! I wonder if he will return to the NPBO and continue playing into his fifties as he believes? :scratchchinhmm:

"While Ichiro is known as a singles hitter -- he has had roughly 700 infield singles in his career -- he has power, too. He has 113 career home runs here, including 15 in 2005, 37 leadoff home runs and two walk-off home runs, one of which was against Mariano Rivera.

But it is during batting practice that his power is most on display. Ryness says he once saw Ichiro wink at somebody and then hit eight straight home runs. Winking or not, Ichiro will often blast balls into the stands. He recently sent several into the upper deck in Minnesota, which is not easy.

"I've never seen anybody like that, not anybody in my life that can do that, how far he hits it,'' Cano says. "I would love to see him in the Home Run Derby.''

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/17127981/ichiro-reaches-3000-hits-following-meticulous-standards

I wonder about these things. You occasionally here these stories of guys who could do such-and-such but choose not to. Cobb could supposedly hit for power, and Boggs. Ichiro may be believable, since he probably wouldn't have been as good as a guy who hit for lower average with Adam Jones walk rates and 20 or 30 homers. He did hit 118 homers in only about 4000 PAs in Japan.

[InsideCoroner]

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Ichiro. The game of baseball is just that much better with him around. I only wish he had spent the bulk of his career in the AL East so that I could have seen a lot more of him.

I just read that he also has agreed that, upon his death, all of his personal memorabilia will go to the Hall Of Fame. Quite the guy. And also imminently quotable. I think my favorite was: "To tell the truth, I’m not excited to go to Cleveland, but we have to. If I ever saw myself saying I’m excited going to Cleveland, I’d punch myself in the face, because I’m lying.”

[mrbig1]

ten time all star, ten time gold glove winner. 262 hits in a season which is a record. 262 is closer to 300 than 200. In 2002 he drew a walk 68 times. 27 of them were intentional. He only had 8 home runs that year. He had 180 IBB in his career. If you had a runner on third with two outs and all your team needs is a hit. In the history of our game who would you send to the plate? I would pick Ichiro Suzuki.

[Ohfan67]

ten time all star, ten time gold glove winner. 262 hits in a season which is a record. 262 is closer to 300 than 200. In 2002 he drew a walk 68 times. 27 of them were intentional. He only had 8 home runs that year. He had 180 IBB in his career. If you had a runner on third with two outs and all your team needs is a hit. In the history of our game who would you send to the plate? I would pick Ichiro Suzuki.

He's not even the best hitter for average of your lifetime, much less the history of the game. Tony Gwynn, for example, had a career average 20 points higher.

[Ohfan67]

Ichiro has had an amazing career and yada yada yada, but some of the compliments paid to him in this thread are over the top. This is the first season since 2010 that Ichiro's OPS+ will be greater than 100. His OPS last year was .561 in 153 games. It was mentioned that Rose got at bats that he may not have deserved while he was chasing 4,000 hits. I think a very strong argument could be made that Ichiro would have been out of baseball several years ago if he wasn't chasing 3,000 hits. His performance this year is a marvel, but Ichiro had not been a productive hitter for several years and would have been watching baseball on TV this year if it wasn't for the 3,000 hit chase.

[Chavez Ravine]

When the Giants were in Miami earlier this week, Jon Miller did an in booth interview with Jeff Idelson, President of the Baseball Hall of Fame. Jeff said that Ichiro is a great student of baseball history and regularly makes trips to the museum.

[DrungoHazewood]

ten time all star, ten time gold glove winner. 262 hits in a season which is a record. 262 is closer to 300 than 200. In 2002 he drew a walk 68 times. 27 of them were intentional. He only had 8 home runs that year. He had 180 IBB in his career. If you had a runner on third with two outs and all your team needs is a hit. In the history of our game who would you send to the plate? I would pick Ichiro Suzuki.

Well... in the context of his peers and his league you'd be hard pressed to not go with Ty Cobb and his .366 career batting average. He'd get a hit in your situation about 5% more often than Ichiro.

[DrungoHazewood]

Ichiro has had an amazing career and yada yada yada, but some of the compliments paid to him in this thread are over the top. This is the first season since 2010 that Ichiro's OPS+ will be greater than 100. His OPS last year was .561 in 153 games. It was mentioned that Rose got at bats that he may not have deserved while he was chasing 4,000 hits. I think a very strong argument could be made that Ichiro would have been out of baseball several years ago if he wasn't chasing 3,000 hits. His performance this year is a marvel, but Ichiro had not been a productive hitter for several years and would have been watching baseball on TV this year if it wasn't for the 3,000 hit chase.

I think you oversimplify. It wasn't necessarily the 3000 hits. I believe Ichiro has stated he wants to keep playing for a good while, even if its back in Japan. Julio Franco wasn't near any kind of milestone, he's not going to the Hall, he didn't get 3000 hits, but at the age of 39 he was basically dumped by MLB and played several years in Mexico, Japan, and Korea. Then came back to the states and played as a part timer in MLB until he was 48. Rickey broke the SB record and then went on playing for like 15 years, despite some less than steller seasons with .600-something OPSes, then in indy ball in his md-40s.

I think the unwritten rule is that great (or even pretty good) and famous players get to keep playing as long as they want, just so long as they'll accept a role and a league befitting their talent. Nolan Reimold basically had Ichiro's 2015 offensive season at 29 and nobody made him retire. Last year Ichiro was a PH, PR, or defensive replacement in 40% of his appearances, give or take.

[bobmc]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jos? Altuve is 3rd AL player with at least 7 4-hit road games in a season (Ichiro, George Sisler) <a href="https://t.co/wVOvGqqLw2">https://t.co/wVOvGqqLw2</a> (via <a href="https://twitter.com/EliasSports">@EliasSports</a>)</p>— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="

">August 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

[OFFNY]

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Jos? Altuve is 3rd AL player with at least 7 4-hit road games in a season (Ichiro, George Sisler) <a href="https://t.co/wVOvGqqLw2">https://t.co/wVOvGqqLw2</a> (via <a href="https://twitter.com/EliasSports">@EliasSports</a>)</p>? ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) <a href="

">August 12, 2016</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Georgie-Boy !!!

He was also the man whose all-time MLB record for hits in a season (257) was broken by Suzuki (262.)

[bobmc]

Georgie-Boy !!!

He was also the man whose all-time MLB record for hits in a season (257) was broken by Suzuki (262*.)

* There are some jaded enough, however, to downplay Ichiro's record because he is a singles hitter. He has a record-breaking 220 singles, more than any other player in baseball has hits. Sisler, by comparison, had 86 extra-base hits, including 19 home runs, and drove in 122 runs. Ichiro has driven in 59 runs.

Ichiro also has broken the record in the 160th game of a 162-game season, while in 1920 the season was 154 games long. Baseball statisticians long ago removed the figurative "asterisk" on 162-game records, choosing to recognize only one record.

Many would argue that the eight-game difference is small compared with the disadvantages faced by modern players. In 1920, pitchers usually pitched complete games, where now Ichiro might see four different pitchers in five at-bats. Opposing managers bring in specialists just to get him out. And pitchers today feature a wicked array of breaking balls unheard of 84 years ago."

http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/Ichiro-breaks-84-year-old-record-for-hits-in-a-1155680.php

[Can_of_corn]

And they used these to field.