Ichiro

Gets his 4,000 professional league hit tonight. Big deal or no deal?

Big deal. Very big deal

Huge deal. Fantastic player

Agree. Big deal. I'd like to see him get 3000 US major league hits, but I doubt he'll make it. Definitely a HOF'er, though. Ten years in a row with over 200 hits plus the single season record of 262.

hits in japan should only be worth 3/5 of an mlb hit

Big deal. Best hitter I've seen in my lifetime.

Huge. One of the best of all time in the world. I have atched him play in person several times and the man can run and has one helluva arm. I got to see him years ago in Seattle and WOW.

Ball State Deac said:

Big deal. Best hitter I've seen in my lifetime.

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do you mean in person or something because i can think of a lot of guys who i'd consider better hitters (many by a wide margin).

The distinction may be between a "hitter" and a "batter." I think Ichiro is one of the greatest batters of all time, along with Gwynn and Rose. But I think of "hitters" as power guys. In any case, 4000 is a big deal for Ichiro.

meh... pujols and miggy have slightly better BAs.

He sucks, his OBP isn't high enough!

Says the haters.

deacphan said:

do you mean in person or something because i can think of a lot of guys who i'd consider better hitters (many by a wide margin).

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Pray tell. Gwynn did not suck, but it Irchio was like a skilled craftsman at the plate.

Ball State Deac said:

Big deal. Best hitter I've seen in my lifetime.

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His OBP is not what it should be.

But he has been an amazing all around player. One of the RF of the past thirty years.

RJKarl said:

His OBP is not what it should be.

But he has been an amazing all around player. One of the RF of the past thirty years.

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Way to go out on a limb there, RJ. Hell, he's one of the RF of all time! :thumbsup:

Ball State Deac said:

Pray tell. Gwynn did not suck, but it Irchio was like a skilled craftsman at the plate.

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miggy and pujols easily. a-rod, vlad, manny are better too.

i mean the guy has a career 109 wrc+. here's a list of guys that have a better wrc+ since 2001 (min. 3000 PAs):

Barry Bonds
Albert Pujols
Joey Votto
Manny Ramirez
Miguel Cabrera
Ryan Braun
Alex Rodriguez
Lance Berkman
Jim Thome
David Ortiz
Jason Giambi
Chipper Jones
Prince Fielder
Matt Holliday
Jim Edmonds
David Wright
Gary Sheffield
Andrew McCutchen
Evan Longoria
Carlos Delgado
Joe Mauer
Vladimir Guerrero
Brian Giles
Shin-Soo Choo
Sammy Sosa
Todd Helton
Adrian Gonzalez
Travis Hafner
Mark Teixeira
Hanley Ramirez
Magglio Ordonez
Frank Thomas
Ryan Howard
Chase Utley
J.D. Drew
Josh Hamilton
Carlos Beltran
Bobby Abreu
Derrek Lee
Kevin Youkilis
Ryan Klesko
Robinson Cano
Jorge Posada
Jeff Kent
Jose Bautista
Moises Alou
Mike Napoli
Matt Kemp
Nick Johnson
Adam Dunn
Josh Willingham
Rafael Palmeiro
Carlos Quentin
Jayson Werth
Paul Konerko
Luis Gonzalez
Andre Ethier
Cliff Floyd
Troy Tulowitzki
Richie Sexson
Aramis Ramirez
Troy Glaus
Jason Bay
Shawn Green
Billy Butler
Derek Jeter
Scott Rolen
Grady Sizemore
Victor Martinez
Justin Upton
Mike Piazza
Ryan Zimmerman
Curtis Granderson
Nick Swisher
Bret Boone
Mike Sweeney
Hideki Matsui
Dustin Pedroia
Brian McCann
Ben Zobrist
Hunter Pence
Justin Morneau
Pat Burrell
Carlos Pena
Trot Nixon
Edwin Encarnacion
Corey Hart
Bernie Williams
Milton Bradley
Luke Scott
Dmitri Young
Adrian Beltre
Torii Hunter
Eric Chavez
Raul Ibanez
Carlos Lee
Nick Markakis
Jay Bruce
Ryan Ludwick
Nelson Cruz
Carlos Guillen
Dan Uggla
Chase Headley
Nomar Garciaparra
Alfonso Soriano
Michael Cuddyer
Russell Branyan
Jermaine Dye
Kevin Millar
Brad Hawpe
Ken Griffey Jr.
Ian Kinsler
Aubrey Huff
Adam LaRoche
Matt Stairs
Andruw Jones
Miguel Tejada
Mike Cameron
Mike Lowell
Ray Durham
Martin Prado
Jose Vidro
Frank Catalanotto
Jonny Gomes

Frank Catalanotto was pretty good, though

He is back in Japan, right? I'm pretty convinced that is where he went after he left the Ms.

deacphan said:

i mean the guy has a career 109 wrc+.

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The stats revolution has been great for baseball, but I hate how there's a new stat like every year. Makes it hard for the casual fan to keep up. I used to read baseball prospectus every day 5 years ago. I've never heard of wrc+. Sorry for the rant.

Anyway, Ichiro has such a unique style of play and was a lot of fun to watch. Especially since he came into the league when speed, defense, and singles hitting was not the predominant strategy. In terms of pure value, he was overrated for that reason. But he definitely brought more to the game from an entertainment standpoint than any number of second tier one dimensional power hitters.

Ichiro is a fascination in the since that he is was the top Asian player in the game and he came over and could actually play at a really high level. He helped to bring about a trend in getting more japanese, korean, chinese, etc. players into the MLB system, and at an earlier age.

Is he a great player? Eh, he's probably top 150 hitter of all time, so at least close. In the 2000's, he was probably around the 15th best, maybe? I mean guys like Beltran, Berkman, Chippa, Manny, Miggy, ARod, jeter are all probably better of the top of my head - probably a few more in there.