Ichiro and the Hall

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Pujols is a better all-around hitter, the best of his generation, but Ichiro is the better batsman. By that, I mean he can put a baseball anywhere he wants any time he wants better than any player I've ever seen. Ichiro is also a better defensive player than just about any of his contemporaries. He is always in the right position and his arm is phenomenal.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Pujols is a great hitter.

Ichiro is a great baseball player.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Ichiro is a great hitter. Pujols is a great offensive player.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Being a great hitter is part of being a great baseball player.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Sorry, but this is nonsense. Baseball is not cricket. If Pujols wanted, he could shorten his stance, twirl the bat around like a badminton racket, and slap the ball the other way just as effectively. Pujols could probably turn into Wade Boggs if necessary. Could Ichiro turn into David Ortiz? No way.

Ichiro is a great player. Maybe the most unique player in MLB history. But he's not a better "batsman" that Albert Pujols.

I'd wager Pujols could attempt to do what Ichrio does, despite his total lack of speed, better than Ichiro could attempt to do what Pujols does.

Manager: Hey Ichiro, you can put the ball anywhere you want, right? Could you put it 500 feet over the right field fence?

Ichiro: (副) いいえ; はい; まさか; いや

Manager: Hmm. I guess that's a no.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

So is drawing walks and hitting for power.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Most great players, most Hall of Fame players, you can see at least one play they'll always be remembered for.
Ichiro? Hard to get worked up about an opposite field single with no one on base. He's never driven in 70 runs in a season.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Ichiro is a pretty bad base runner, which doesn't always enter the discussion. It's pretty amazing how bad he is, considering his speed.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Why's that?

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

He bats leadoff, why would you expect him to drive in runs?

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Great post, I like Ichiro a lot, but to compare him to Pulos is ridiculous

 

Colleague and I had a nice little debate on whether Ichiro is a Hall of Famer without 3,000 MLB hits. I contend that he's a lock. He says that he's not. What say you?