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09-19-2006, 06:20 PM
Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>Ichiro has topped 200 hits for the 6th consecutive season. He's over 200 hits every one of his seasons in the majors and needs only 4 more runs to top 100 runs in every season.

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09-19-2006, 06:29 PM
Posted By: <b>Patrick McMenemy</b><p>Ichiro will look nice in a Red Sox uniform next year!<br /><br />Patrick

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09-19-2006, 09:14 PM
Posted By: <b>Gilbert Maines</b><p>I was going to say that Hornsby did it for ten years. But he didn't. What he did was average over 200 hits per season for ten consecutive years: 1920-1929 = 2080 hits.

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09-23-2006, 03:24 PM
Posted By: <b>Gilbert Maines</b><p>Of course, six consecutive seasons with 200 or more hits is nothing to sneeze about, one would think ~ especially from the get go ~ but thats the way this is done!<br /><br />Ask Boggs who did it seven times from the gitgo,<br />or Keeler who still holds the record of eight in a row, also from the beginning of his full seasons.<br /><br />But the truth be told - Suzuki was already a very accomplished baseball player, well before he was even a twinkle in the eye of MLB; but of course, that status certainly does not in the least diminish what he continues to do.<br /><br />As Warshawlaw says, this is nice!

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09-23-2006, 03:39 PM
Posted By: <b>bill</b><p>I know we all have other sports cards so I didn't think<br />you'd mind<br /><a href="http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=4791&universeid=314&lt;/a" target="_new" rel="nofollow">http://www.psacard.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=4791&universeid=314&lt;/a</a>

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09-23-2006, 03:45 PM
Posted By: <b>Dan Kravitz</b><p>Bill- the card looks off centered 60-40. Doesn't look like a 10 to me. I wonder what SGC would grade it? What a joke. That is one bad investment!

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09-23-2006, 04:23 PM
Posted By: <b>Rhys</b><p>Ichiro will not leave Seattle. He could have bolted numerous times by now and stays in Seattle because he is comfortable there. I think what many people in America forget is that Seattle is where most japanese players WANT to play, and it has never been about the money for Ichiro. All Seattle needs to do in order to become more popular in Japan is to follow the Angels and call themselves the Tokyo Mariners of Seattle. Ichiro Stays!

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09-23-2006, 04:27 PM
Posted By: <b>Scot Reader</b><p><br />He went over 100 runs scored last night. He's now 6-for-6 in terms of 100 runs scored and 200 hits. He also set an A.L. record this season for most consecutive stolen bases without getting caught. Remarkable consistency. One of my favorite current players. Definitely on his way to Cooperstown.

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09-23-2006, 04:30 PM
Posted By: <b>jay behrens</b><p>Just imagine what kind of press he would be getting if he was American<br /><br />Jay<br><br>I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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09-23-2006, 04:34 PM
Posted By: <b>Jeff Lichtman</b><p>And how about the fact that he was voted by his peers to have the best outfield arm in baseball?

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09-26-2006, 09:18 AM
Posted By: <b>dstudeba</b><p>The only player in baseball that I will expressly go to a game for.

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09-26-2006, 09:22 AM
Posted By: <b>Josh Adams</b><p>I try to get out to see the Mariners play when they come into Chicago solely for Ichiro. What a great player. I love watching him hit.<br><br>Go Go White Sox<br />2005 World Series Champions!

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09-26-2006, 10:51 AM
Posted By: <b>Jason</b><p>Ichiro does have one of the finest outfield arms in the game...I never thought much of him either way until I attended a Yankees game in 2003. Amazing seats (the only way I'll go to a Yankees game), 10 rows behind 1st base. <br />A Yankee flies out to right (Ichiro). A Yankee on 3rd starts toward home (and stops) and Ichiro uncorks a throw to the plate that I will remember until the day I die (which of course, will be more amazing the longer I live). I swear I could hear it slicing through the air, and it had no arc. You could not see an arc on this throw. It zipped straight past us and smacked into the catcher's glove as though it were a perfect strike (right at the catcher's knee level, 3rd base side of the plate). <br />I couldn't help it, I let out a shreik like a little girl at the play...never seen anything like it <br /><br />Amazing talent

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09-26-2006, 11:18 AM
Posted By: <b>Tom Boblitt</b><p>the numbers say what they say....Rose had 200 hits 10 times and averaged 200 hits from 1965-1980 - a 16 year period.

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09-26-2006, 11:30 AM
Posted By: <b>Jason</b><p>earned his spot in baseball history, no doubt.<br />But to many people, he will only be remembered as that guy crashing into the catcher, a liar who bet on baseball and hung out with thugs, and the silliest looking player in an Expos uni...

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09-26-2006, 11:51 AM
Posted By: <b>Bob</b><p>I wish I could say Ichiro would be right at home playing for the Twins next year <img src="/images/sad.gif" height=14 width=14> I hate you big market team fans, you get to do so much scheming and dreaming. <br />By the way the Piranha's magic number for the playoffs is 2. This is the most incredible one season turnaround since the 1914 Braves. I wonder if the ChiSox or Tigers said about the Twins in June, "Are they still in the league?"

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09-26-2006, 11:59 AM
Posted By: <b>Gilbert Maines</b><p>That's some stat, Tom. I did not realize that Rose did that. 16 consecutive years averaging over 200 hits/season!<br />That's a long stretch to simply keep your at bats up.

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09-26-2006, 01:21 PM
Posted By: <b>walkscott</b><p>Jay, I don't think anyone would argue - Ichiro would get far less press if he were American.

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09-26-2006, 01:21 PM
Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>I recall being at a Dodgers game a few years ago and watching Shawn Green hammer a throw like that; straight arrow on a line from deep right at Dodgers stadium to the plate on the fly. He had a cannon out there, which is why they tried to make him a first baseman. I know, that's harsh, but having watched them bumble away a lead to the D-Backs Saturday night (and having spent $$ for the privilege), I am not in a merciful mood.

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09-26-2006, 01:27 PM
Posted By: <b>walkscott</b><p>Another guy with an awesome arm is Jeff Francouer - that guy is flat-out exciting to have on a team....plus, he actually seems to enjoy playing baseball!

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09-26-2006, 10:03 PM
Posted By: <b>jay behrens</b><p>The best outfield arm I ever saw was Ellis Valentine. He had an absolute cannon and if not for being hit in the head with an errant pitch, would have had a hell of a career. Just imagine a long term outfiled that would have featured Dawon, Raines and Valentine.<br /><br />Jay<br /><br />I love pinatas. You get to beat the crap of something and get rewarded with candy.

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09-26-2006, 10:56 PM
Posted By: <b>Brett</b><p>You guys have to remember Ichiro averages almost 700 at bats per season. Its not going to be THAT tough to get 200 hits if you get so many at bats. Hes a good player, but come on, many players in the majors would get 200 hits given they have close to 700 at bats. If you see the standings for the top 10 averages in the both leagues, Ichiro has about 100 + more at bats than everyone......

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09-26-2006, 11:26 PM
Posted By: <b>Judge Dred (Fred)</b><p>Those 700 at bats a season (actually an average of 680 at bats for his first five seasons) are a testament to his conditioning and training. That and the fact that he's a leadoff hitter is one reason why he gets so many at bats. <br /><br />

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09-27-2006, 02:10 AM
Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>Ichiro is very good, not great, batter, who steals a good number of bases, is a great<br />fielder and plays close to every game (less than 3 games missed per year). <br /><br />When he came to Seattle, I was surprised to see he was such a good fielder with a cannon for an arm. He's a string bean, and my vision of an outfielder with a cannon for an arm was the Dave Parker/Andre Dawson-types.

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09-27-2006, 10:19 AM
Posted By: <b>Dave Rey</b><p>Ichiro gets nearly 700 ABs every year because he refuses to walk. He is not a good leadoff hitter unless he's hitting around .350 because he's only on base if he hits a single -- which are all he hits, as he's only get 35 extra-base hits in his 678 ABs thus far this season.<br /><br />His current batting average is .320 with an on base average of only .368...<br /><br />I'm not complaining too much, though -- my Mariners are lucky to have him, if only for how fun he can be to watch.

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09-27-2006, 10:48 AM
Posted By: <b>David Smith</b><p>I will tell you what, Dave. I will trade you Adam Dunn of the Cincinnati Reds straight up for Ichiro.<br /><br />Dunn is younger than Ichiro and makes less money. Dunn usually hits 40 or more Home Runs a year with 100 Runs, 100 RBI and 100 Walks.<br /><br /><br />David

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09-27-2006, 10:53 AM
Posted By: <b>walkscott</b><p>I would take Dunn for Ichiro in a flash. But the Mariners would not - Ichiro is a huge drawing card in Seattle for reasons listed in prior posts. In Cincinnati he would just be an overpaid lead-off hitter. <br /><br />The Mariners would have to toss in Sexton as well, and the Reds could add someone speedy with a decent average, from the minors (preferabley Japanese).

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09-27-2006, 11:06 AM
Posted By: <b>David Smith</b><p>Walkscot, I wish you were Seattles GM!! I am a Reds fan and you should see how other fans on the Reds chat board talk about Dunn and wish he were gone.<br /><br />He is hitting .237, has 13 errors and has struck out 186 times. He hit like .180 in August (when the Reds were still in it and needed offense so as to pass the Cardinals for First Place) and less than .200 so far in September.<br /><br />As a Reds fan, I would LOVE to have Ichiro. He has the batting average, speed and defense the Reds need. If I were the Reds manager and had Ichiro, I would bat him third in the line-up. Batting third, I think Ichiro could have a year like Alan Trammell did with the Tigers in 1984; over .300 average and 100 RBI's.<br /><br />David

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09-27-2006, 11:12 AM
Posted By: <b>Dave Rey</b><p>I'd take the Dunn trade, even though he is hitting just .237, he's more valuable offensively than Ichiro. He's only scored 8 less runs than Ichiro, creates more runs overall per outs and next year will be going into his peak season at 27 years of age.<br /><br />Dunn's likely stats for next year will be about .255 BA 48 HR 110 RUNS 115 WALKS with an OPS around .950. Heck he's even a good percentage player on the basepaths, Dunn is 7 for 7 on steals this year.<br /><br />Dunn isn't all that great as a fielder, and those 12 errors in left field are a ridiculous amount, but his bat makes up for that. We'd probably miss Ichiro's arm in right, which acts as a deterrent on opponents trying to score or take the extra base when the ball in hit to right.<br /><br />Of course, Ichiro also has value beyond his actual baseball value. He is a drawing card and he makes the Mariners the most desirable team for future Japanese imports.<br /><br />Mariner fans that don't understand how to gauge on-field performance value would also throw a tantrum for the ages if we traded Ichiro for Dunn.<br /><br />I'd still do it, though. Ichiro will be 33 next year and he is already showing signs of slipping at the plate -- if he drops down to being just a .290-.300 hitter, his offensive value is negligible -- he'd become the modern day Mickey Rivers at the plate.

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09-27-2006, 12:09 PM
Posted By: <b>davidcycleback</b><p>Seattle has a large Asian population and social presence, and the Mariners ownership has a strong Japanese influence. A former co-wner was Japanese, and the current owner is Nintendo of America. So Japanese players may feel they will be comfortable in Seattle.

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09-27-2006, 12:21 PM
Posted By: <b>runscott</b><p>Admittedly, I would be a sorry GM - I don't even have the patience for fantasy baseball.<br /><br />I didn't realize that Adam Dunn was such a non-clutch player - I don't follow the Reds too closely.

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09-27-2006, 02:37 PM
Posted By: <b>David Smith</b><p>Runscot, it OK. I was just seeing what non-Cincinnati Reds fans thought of Dunn. Like I said before, most people on the Reds board are tired of Dunn, especially his Strike Outs and his poor defense and don't think he is very desirable as far as trade bait goes. <br /><br />I am tired of Dunn also but think that a trade to an AL team would get close to equal value for him because he could DH, therefor reducing his defensive liability. I LOVE Ichiro as a player. I guess because he reminds me of the Deadball Era players--usually a .330 or higher Average and 40-50 Stolen Bases.

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09-27-2006, 04:11 PM
Posted By: <b>Dave Rey</b><p>Playing dead-ball era style baseball in today's baseball may be charming but it isn't something that is going to equate into won/loss success.<br /><br />First of all, during the dead ball era, lets say 1906-08 NL, where the league batting averages where, .244 in '06; .243 in '07; and .239 in '08, only a couple players hit over .300 and only one hit in the .330+ range with any regularity and that was Wagner.<br /><br />Ichiro's high averages are in a climate where the league batting average is around .270 (like it was the year he hit .372).<br /><br />Doing some quick contextual adjustments (without doing any park adjustments, which would further make my point):<br /><br />Honus Wagner hit .354 in 1908, when the rest of the league hit .239 -- in the context of 2004 AL (Ichiro's big .372 season), that translates to .400.<br /><br />Ichiro's .372 in 2004 translates to .329 in the context of 1908.<br /><br />Plus, Wagner's slugging (within the context of his time) is quantum leaps above Ichiro.<br /><br />Ichiro is essentialy playing dead ball baseball and that is one of the reasons the M's are mediocre/bad -- he is supposedly our best player...<br /><br />I haven't done the math, but my guess is Dunn and an average right fielder (Chris Snelling, for example) in place of Ichiro would predictably increase the Mariners' runs they create and up their overall W/L.<br /><br />It would be a good trade on the field for the M's -- but the off-the-field and PR ramifications basically ensure the M's would never make that trade.<br /><br />It's silly though, because, the way he is going, essentially we're a year or two away from Ichiro just being Mickey Rivers...

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09-27-2006, 05:03 PM
Posted By: <b>David Smith</b><p>Well, Mickey is much better than Joan <img src="/images/happy.gif" height=14 width=14><br /><br /><br />David

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09-27-2006, 05:43 PM
Posted By: <b>warshawlaw</b><p>Hitting .300 is very hard to do. Hitting better than .300 every year over a long career is very impressive. I think he rates quite a bit better than most people make him out to be. Ichiro's 162 game average over the first five years of his career is:<br /><br /> 692 AB 114 R 230 H 27 Doubles 8 Triples 11 Homers 63 RBI 39 SB 47 Walks .332 BA .377 OB%<br /><br />I see a HOFer in the making not a Mickey Rivers. Put anyone worth a damn in the 2-3-4 spots and the guy's gonna score 140 runs a year.

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09-27-2006, 06:32 PM
Posted By: <b>Dave Rey</b><p>G 147 AB 630 R 96 H 210 DB 32 TR 6 HR 7 RBI 60 SB 18 CS 7 BB 20 K 34 BA .333 OBA .353 SLG .437<br /><br />G 138 AB 565 R 79 H 184 DB 18 TR 5 HR 12 RBI 69 SB 22 CS 14 BB 18 K 45 BA .326 OBA .350 SLG .439<br /><br />G 137 AB 590 R 95 H 184 DB 31 TR 8 HR 8 RBI 67 SB 43 CS 7 BB 13 K 51 BA .312 OBA .327 SLG .432<br /><br />Ichiro stats?<br /><br />No, Mickey Rivers' three best years. Would fit right into Ichiro's career lines. They are already very similar offensive players, the difference is Rivers' only played about 140 games per year.<br /><br />Ichiro is overrated offensively.<br /><br />And hitting .300 is sometimes easy (see 1930) and sometimes very hard (see 1968). Ichiro has been playing in a time period where hitting .300 is nothing super special.

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09-27-2006, 07:04 PM
Posted By: <b>Gilbert Maines</b><p>Suzuki is no leadoff hitter, his OBP is too low. But behind the right guy, he is a near perfect #2 batter: lefty - hits behind the runner, hits for average and stolen base threat. Only problem is his Ks are a little high.