Based on how the MLB was right before Ichiro came to the US, I assume he'd have even more hits playing here than he did in Japan.

No, Ichiro isn't the MLB hits leader. But when it comes to getting hits, he may be the greatest of all time.

_________________
Rick Hahn is the best GM in baseball.

Who is the best of all time when it comes to taking hits?

Chuck Finley
Nate Newton
AJ

_________________

The best part about the book You Gotta Have Wa was when the author described how, in the showers, the Japanese players used to grab the penis of some hulking American good ol' boy who played over there and say, "Look! It's so big!" Not sure I'd call Rose "hulking," but I'd bet Rose's penis is larger than Ichiro's.

_________________

Spicoli

_________________

I can't imagine their reaction to Tuffy Rhodes.

_________________

Strawberry
Gooden
Bobby Brown
Mick Foley
Oh, I'm sorry I thought you said who is th best at taking bumps.

_________________

Geovany Soto
Dan Pasqua
Bill Spaceman Lee
Tim Lincecum

has to be Doc Ellis

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I agree Ichiro likely would have tied Rose had he played a full MLB career. He didn't Conversation over.

_________________

Who even cares? Hits don't matter anymore. On-base percentage does. #2016

_________________

Ichiro was lucky. Only home runs and strikeouts matter.

_________________
You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Amen, brother!

_________________

Lots of guys that can't make a MLB roster go to Japan and have great success. Matt Murton set the single season hit record in Japan. The talent level is not as high. The hits Ichiro had in Japan should count like the hits guys get in the minor leagues here should count....not at all.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

He had more success here.

_________________
Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Doesn't matter. Stats in what amounts to the minor leagues doesn't count.

_________________
Go Cubs!!!!

_________________
"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Is there any truth to his Seattle teammates being pissed at him for fouling off clear balls in order to elongate the AB and get a pitch to hit?

_________________
That's my purse! I don't know you!

If that's the case, fuck them.

They're just pissed cause they weren't capable of doing the same.

_________________
We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

I don't doubt it. This has been the biggest change in the game. The worship of the walk. Luke Appling was known for fouling off balls until he got the pitch he wanted to hit and it was considered one of his Hall of Fame credentials. Seventy years later the same thing is considered "bad baseball".

If you watched the hitter's round table hosted by Costas on MLB, Michael Young said that when he first came up the most embarrassing thing that could happen in an at-bat was striking out. When he was finishing his career the most embarrassing thing was to make an out on the first pitch.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

Ichiro's baseball achievements are those of a fringe HOF'er at best. He's essentially Lou Brock, and the last 30% of his career PA's have been barely replacement-level.

Only because of the fetishization of the walk. Are you saying Brock isn't a deserving Hall of Famer? Maybe we should replace him with Eddie Yost.

_________________
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he's gone?
I thought I saw him walkin' up to The Hill
With Elon, Tulsi, and Don

I do not have a strong opinion but I hear this a lot lately. Especially by the Bernsie types.

_________________
Elections have consequences.

No, also because he's been really, really bad for like 30% of his MLB career.



He doesn't make it in my baseball world. Hall of Very Good For a Long While, absolutely. But not a career that I think should be heralded as one of the greatest ever. A 75% base stealer with slightly above-average on-base abilities but average-at-best power from a corner OF doesn't really rev my engine.