Ichiro!

Let's hope Frank Deford starts a trend and all major sports journalists write columns about the awesomeness of Ichiro. 

One quote in particular:

The fact is, though, that Ichiro is probably better at the task of putting a bat on a pitched ball than anyone — ever — in history.

Is this true?  It's actually quite possible. Ichiro has 2199 hits in under 10 seasons. If you include his Japanese numbers, he has 3600 professional hits. Perhaps he wouldn't have quite so many if he had played exclusively in America. But it would be pretty close. He started in the U.S. at age 27. If you assume 5 additional seasons averaging 220 hits, which is pretty reasonable and doesn't even include a cup of coffee he probably would have received a previous year or two, that would give him about 3300 hits at the age of 36. 3300 hits alone would make Ichiro 11th in major league history. He will gets 200 hits for the 10th consecutive season this year. Only Pete Rose has 10 200 hit seasons, and they weren't consecutively. If he had 3300 hits now, he'd need less than 600 to be in the top 3 all time. Ichiro almost assuredly has 600 more hits  in him.

Will Ichiro reach 3000 American hits? It's hard to say. He needs another 801 and he is 36 years old. That would mean averaging 200 hits a year into his age 40 season. I don't know if he can do that. But he is a truly remarkable athlete who has already done things no one else has. Maybe he should take a few more walks and maybe he doesn't hit for any power, but he is an amazing player for what he does do and anyone who doesn't vote for Ichiro as a 1st ballot Hall of Famer should have their voting privileges stripped.

More Ichiro Greatness

The great Ichiro strikes again.

Last night, he became the first player ever to have nine consecutive 200 hit seasons. The old record holder was Hall of Famer Wee Willie Keeler, who did this between 1894 and 1901. Second on the list is Wade Boggs. Again, anyone who thinks Ichiro is not a hall of famer is insane. He's in elite company. He may or may not get to 3000 hits, but if he doesn't, the only reason is because he played in Japan for so long before coming over to the U.S. Statisticians have projected that if Ichiro started in the U.S. when he was young, he'd likely threaten Pete Rose's all-time record. And that's without sucking for years but putting himself in the game because he was managing as well as playing.

Anyway, I know my posts lack in Ichiro-worship, so I thought I'd try to make up for it a little.

Ichiro!

A slightly belated congratulations to the great Ichiro on becoming the 2nd fastest player in baseball history to get 2000 hits. He did it in 1402 games. Only Al Simmons did it faster.

Anyone who says that Ichiro is not a hall of famer is crazy. Even of he doesn't get to 3000, it is only because he came over from Japan so late. Had he started in the major leagues at the age of 20 or 21, it's likely he would provide a legitimate challenge to Pete Rose's hits record.

Ichiro!

You have to love Ichiro. What other player would go to the grave of George Sisler to pay his respects? Sisler held the hits record from 1920 until Ichiro broke it in 2004. With the All-Star Game in St. Louis, Ichiro decided to honor the man.

This is also amusing:

But this time, Ichiro got to meet President Barack Obama, who threw out the first pitch. Obama, visiting the clubhouses, stopped and signed a ball for Ichiro, who gave a slight bow upon meeting the President and appeared as giddy and excited as a kid.

"My idea, when I saw him, was to say, 'What's up?' to him," Ichiro said. "But I got nervous. You know, he has that kind of aura about him. So I got nervous and I didn't say that to him. I was a little disappointed about that.

"But I realized after seeing him today that presidents wear jeans, too. So my hope is that our skipper, [Don] Wakamatsu, was watching that and we can wear jeans on our flights, as well."

Bedard

Seattle Mariners pitcher Erik Bedard is unlikely to pitch next year after surgery for a torn labrum.

USS Mariner calls the trade bringing Bedard in last winter the worst in franchise history. Basically, we traded our entire farm system, along with the excellent reliever George Sherrill, to the Orioles for two years of Bedard. He wasn't any good in Seattle, was a pain in the ass in the clubhouse, wouldn't talk to the media, and then got hurt. He will be a free agent at the end of next season. For 80 innings of crappiness, the Mariners gave up three amazing prospects that they desperately need to rebuild from one of the worst seasons in franchise history. The Mariners were supposed to compete for the AL West title this year, though that was clearly ridiculous, even in April. Instead, they are trying not to lose 100 games.

Truthfully, the Mariners have a long history of making terrible trades--trading a couple of bums named Jason Varitek and Derek Lowe to the Red Sox for Heathcliff Slocumb, trading Danny Tartabull to Kansas City for Scott Bankhead. So it remains to be seen if the Bedard trade is worse.

But in any case, this season sucks and I am glad it is almost over. The only redeeming thing is that Ichiro got 200 hits last night for the 8th straight season, tying the all-time record of consecutive 200 hit seasons set by Wee Willie Keeler between 1894 and 1901. Assuming he doesn't get hurt, we can expect him to break that record next year. Ichiro!

PS--I knew I was forgetting one horrible trade of the past. Walking to the office I remembered when the Mariners traded Carlos Guillen to Detroit for Ramon Santiago because they thought Guillen was a bad influence on Freddy Garcia. I wonder what happened to that Guillen fellow...

A Glorious Day for the Seattle Mariners

It's rare to say that I am happy to be a Mariners fan. But yesterday was truly a great day.

1. Ichiro wins the All-Star game MVP after hitting an inside the park home run.

2. Reports come out that Ichiro is on the verge of signing a 5 year, 100 million dollar contract to stay in Seattle. This would keep him through his first 12 years as a major leaguer, meaning he would probably retire in Seattle and go into the Hall of Fame as a Mariner.

3. Reports also come out that the Mariners are calling up Adam Jones, their top prospect and benching the horrible Jose Vidro. This probably moves Raul Ibanez to DH, getting his iron glove out of LF and replacing with a batter who seems clearly ready.

4. The Mariners start the second half 13 games over .500 and 2 1/2 behind the Angels for the AL West lead.

5. The Yankees suck.

It's still hard to imagine Seattle competing for the playoffs. But at least for right now, it feels really good to be a Mariners fan. As one of the writers for USS Mariner says, "As a lifelong Mariner fan, I’m used to finding a pot of crap at the end of the rainbow. I like this better."

Indeed!

Historical Image of the Day

The great Ichiro Suzuki