More Ichiro

Dave · September 25, 2004 at 2:33 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

Jeff Sullivan has more good stuff on Ichiro’s hitting style and value. Check it out.

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9 Responses to “More Ichiro”

  1. Flavor Flav on September 25th, 2004 3:58 pm

    Last year it was Ryan Franklin and is he any good without an outfield defense. Well I got to give you credit, you were right on about Franklin. This year its the is Ichiro really any good issue that gets the most replay value. Wo! ha-haaaa

  2. Dave on September 25th, 2004 5:15 pm

    I fail to see how anyone could read the blog consistent for the past year and come to the conclusion that we aren’t sure if Ichiro is “really any good”. I made a case for him as the MVP of the American League a few weeks ago. He’s obviously pretty freaking good.

  3. Flavor Flav on September 25th, 2004 10:56 pm

    I apologize, most of the time I just skim the articles. Sometimes I make fun of how analytical you guys get but I am just joking around. I used to read Total Baseball but I never really did get the whole Sabremetrics thing.

  4. JPWood on September 26th, 2004 6:39 am

    It’s times like these that I real miss a good Leonard Koppett historical perspective piece on just how impressive Ichiro’s season is.

  5. globalhawk on September 26th, 2004 11:00 pm

    Does anyone know whether the Intentional Walk was used much back in Sisler’s day? If not used much, the fact that Ichiro is getting IW’d a lot could be good counter to those skeptics who want to put an asterisk next to Ichiro’s record, if he gets it.

  6. JPWood on September 27th, 2004 8:53 am

    IBBs weren’t recorded then, but one significant change was the rules change that brought in the “clean ball” era for the 1920 season: no scuffing by pitchers and clean white visible baseballs for the batters. Sisler already had a robust .352 BA in 1919 but raised that 55 points to .407 in 1920. Check out the list of Ichiro co-combattants and you’ll find two that fit this pattern in 1920.
    I think it’s pretty safe to say that neither the rules nor the stat-keeping methods in the two eras benefit Ichiro in his pursuit of the hit record in 2004. I really would like to know more, and that’s why I’d like to call Koppett back from the grave.

  7. Ralph Malph on September 27th, 2004 10:49 am

    In his 257 hit season, Sisler had 46 walks in 692 plate appearances. This season, Ichiro has 48 walks (18 IBB) in 724 PA’s. I don’t think you can say those are a big factor.

    Even if he hit .400 in those 18 missed PA’s, they only cost him 7 hits.

    I haven’t heard anyone seriously suggest putting an asterisk after Ichiro’s record. After all, we’ve been playing 162 games for 44 seasons now and no one else has come close to Sisler.

    Did you know Sisler pitched in 24 games with a 2.35 ERA?

  8. JPWood on September 27th, 2004 12:34 pm

    Even the fact that Sisler pitched is evidence that professional baseball is not the same game in 2004 that is was in 1920. His ERA is icing on the cake. And his .420 average in 1922 lights the candles on the cake.
    Sisler was a great player, no doubt, but trying to compare Ichiro and George on the subject of total hits throws the glory hat in Ichiro’s ring any way we look at it. Only 3 players have even come within 25 hits of this record in close to 70 years and Ichiro got the closest in 2001. I’m just watching this and reveling in it as baseball history in the making.

  9. globalhawk on September 28th, 2004 11:13 pm

    v interesting re Sisler’s ERA — was that in same year as his 257 hits, or over his whole career?