Wee Ichi Zuki just doesn't have the same ring to it...

Sounds like an abbreviation for "wee itchy zucchini"...

Sounds like an abbreviation for "wee itchy zucchini"...

Hit 'em where they ate.

Has there ever been a more consistent player across the board than Ichiro? It's spooky. And not just the 200 hit thing. In 5 of his 8 seasons he's scored 110 or 111 runs, between 7 and 9 triples in 6 seasons, between 6 and 9 HR in 6 seasons. His walk totals for the last 5 seasons: 48, 49, 49, 48, 49.

This has been Ichiro's 2nd worst season since coming to the majors. He'll still wind up with about 110 runs and nearly 50 steals while playing a strong rightfield. The M's should probably put him back in center though.

I tend to agree with Pete Rose about the likelihood of Jeter catching him in hits (recent Joe Pos interview).

But if Ichiro had played in the U.S. all along, that's a player who had the skills to catch Rose...

I checked on this the other day, but I'm pretty sure that Ichiro's season will rank something like the 15th or 16th worst season in terms of OPS+ for someone with 200 hits. Whether that means anything or not is open for debate. I just like that it's so easy to figure that kind of thing out with B-R PI now.

But if Ichiro had played in the U.S. all along, that's a player who had the skills to catch Rose...

Does he also have nunchaku skills, bow hunting skills, and/or computer hacking skills?

AO

I checked on this the other day, but I'm pretty sure that Ichiro's season will rank something like the 15th or 16th worst season in terms of OPS+ for someone with 200 hits. Whether that means anything or not is open for debate. I just like that it's so easy to figure that kind of thing out with B-R PI now.

After his dismal April, it seems he packed away the power stroke and worked on making contact so he could collect his hits and get his average up to .300. The average is good, his OBP is decent, but he has just no power this year.

Right: even by his own standards, there's been no pop in his bat this season. I don't get to watch many Mariners games, but Ichiro is my favorite player, so I check their box scores on the daily.

I honestly believe that you could divide the field into the grid, tell Ichiro what coordinates on the grid you want the ball to land in, and he'd be able to put the ball there.

Congrats to Ichiro. To equal a record from 1901 is pretty insane.

Congrats to Ichiro. To top a record from 1901 is pretty insane.

Pfft. This is a bad and biased record.

Has there ever been a more consistent player across the board than Ichiro?

Not across the board, but my favorite has always been (well, since I noticed it) Mookie Wilson's BA:

1981 271
1982 279
1983 276
1984 276
1985 276

I'm a fan of Eddie Murray's OPS+:

1981 - 156
1982 - 156
1983 - 156
1984 - 156

and Albert Pujols' at-bats:

2001 - 590
2002 - 590
2003 - 591
2004 - 592
2005 - 591

Pfft. This is a bad and biased record.

Really? That's it? I don't understand this reaction in the least.

Vinny Castilla 1996: .304/40/113
Vinny Castilla 1997: .304/40/113

I honestly believe that you could divide the field into the grid, tell Ichiro what coordinates on the grid you want the ball to land in, and he'd be able to put the ball there.

maybe someone should tell him to put it in one of the many coordinates that would result with a double every once in a while

You people really are something else. I'm glad Richie Ashburn died before people could tell him how unvaluable he was.

Garret Anderson's EQA:

1998: .270
1999: .268
2000: .268
2001: .269

i was trying to decide how impressed i should be when i heard this. does ichiro have a harder hill to climb or an easier one than keeler?

in keeler's favor: big outfields, fewer hard-throwing relief pitchers, poor quality fields (lucky bounces), small/bad gloves on fielders

in ichiro's favor: 162 game sked, emphasis on offense means lower quality fielders (highly debatable), better training methods

one could say the training method advantage is a wash since everybody trains harder now. i don't know. maybe i'm missing something, but it just seems like this is a bigger accomplishment. i'm not saying i think he's necessarily the best player ever or anything. modern stat keeping seems to show his numbers have a slightly hollow ring (low OPS).

Leafing over randomly to B-Ref I note that Ichiro will lead the league in singles for the eighth consecutive year. The consecutiveness is a record, though there is one other player who had eight "singles titles" (and it's not Keeler), achieved over a nine-year stretch.

I'm glad Richie Ashburn died before people could tell him how unvaluable he was.

1) Richie Ashburn would take a walk
2) Richie Ashburn was all he was cracked up to be defensively

Really? That's it? I don't understand this reaction in the least.

When Pedroia got 200 hits Balckadder reacted like Lee Sinins would if Lee heard about a nohitter.

Leafing over randomly to B-Ref I note that Ichiro will lead the league in singles for the eighth consecutive year. The consecutiveness is a record, though there is one other player who had eight "singles titles" (and it's not Keeler), achieved over a nine-year stretch.

I guessed Tony Gwynn, but he "only" has seven.

1) Richie Ashburn would take a walk
2) Richie Ashburn was all he was cracked up to be defensively

1) The downgrading of Ichiro because he doesn't walk a lot is tiresome
2) Ichiro's not exactly shabby with the glove

As a kid, I always thought Fred Lynn's homer totals were pretty cool:

1982 - 21
1983 - 22
1984 - 23
1985 - 23
1986 - 23
1987 - 23
1988 - 25

Any other power hitting regular ever post the exact same total four years in a row?


I also like Palmeiro's homerun palindrome:

1997 - 38
1998 - 43
1999 - 47
2000 - 39
2001 - 47
2002 - 43
2003 - 38

Ashburn: 234 SB, 92+ CS (CS not recorded 48-50)

Suzuki: 315 SB, 70 CS

1) The downgrading of Ichiro because he doesn't walk a lot is tiresome
2) Ichiro's not exactly shabby with the glove

1) Don't compare him to Richie Ashburn if you don't want people to point out the ways Ashburn was better
2) "Not shabby" = "not all he's cracked up to be"

To me, 82.3, 82.3, and 82.3 is the gold standard.

Kevin McReynolds had 96 RBI, 95 RBI, and 99 RBI consecutively (and never did have a 100-RBI season). He also had 26/29/27 HRs, 31/32/30 doubles, 89/86/82 runs, and 161/163/159 hits.

1) The downgrading of Ichiro because he doesn't walk a lot is tiresome

Tiresome doesn't make it wrong.