will Ichiro make it to 200 hits this year?

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I was thinking about this today...because really, what else is there to think about?

If I were a manager, and I had to choose between five years of Ichiro at his best or five years of Bobby Abreu at his best, I'd probably take Abreu. Even accounting for defense and speed, I think Abreu would be worth more to the team. It'd be close--if nothing else, you'd have more flexibility with Abreu.

If I were a HOF voter seven or eight years from now and I had the same choice, I'd vote Ichiro in a second. That is probably an indefensible contradiction to a lot of people, but the Hall of Fame to me is not, strictly speaking, the Hall of Sabermetrics or Hall of WAR. 90-95% of the time it is. But there are exceptions, and Ichiro would be one of them for me.

"If I were a manager, and I had to choose between five years of Ichiro at his best or five years of Bobby Abreu at his best, I'd probably take Abreu."

I'd take Ichiro (and I'd make him play CF) in a second. The difference between their defense is bigger than their offense. Plus Ichiro's best years post-27 were better than anything Abreu achieved in his entire career.

the consistency of his excellence, and its longevity, make him a lock imo

come on, an uninterrupted decade of 200+ hits. dayum.

hi dere

http://www.thesportschronicle.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Hideki-Matsui-New-York-Yankees-2009-World-Series-ring.jpg

love that guy. even when he was with the yankees i loved him.

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2 for 24 in last 5 games

Ichiro Suzuki bolstered his chances at another 200-hit season by going 4-for-5 with a home run as the Seattle Mariners topped the visiting Kansas City Royals 7-3 on Friday.

Ichiro, vying to become the first major leaguer to reach the 200-hit plateau in 11 straight seasons, is 33 shy with 18 games remaining.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-ZpHr5l0U0

no

― buzza

so what happens in two days? does Ichiro do the honourable thing?

Ask for a trade? I hope so.

The good news is, his Baseball Reference page is available to anyone who wants to sponsor it for a mere $1,585.

folks suggest that ichiro's speed is down, which is reason for his decline both offensively and defensively (how many infield hits does he have this year compared to other seasons?), but he still swiped 40 bags this year (to date) with only 7 caught. i wouldn't be surprised to see him make a bit of a comeback next year, since i figure at this point he's even more of a singles hitter than he was before and singles hitters like ichiro and derek jeter can obviously still put up the batting average even after decline years.

yeah I'm not going to belive Ichiro is done until he has a couple seasons like this
I mean really, even Jeets is having a good season and was way more likely to be "washed up"

Jeter's OPS + the last 2 seasons: 90, 98
Ichiro's: 112, 85

jeter's doing alright, he's basically having a good "singles hitter" year offensively and playing his usual shit D.

I just looked it up, I'm actually kinda stunned that Jeter's only had one good fielding year and that was 2009

I realize he's never been a good fielder (despite winning Golden Gloves for some reason) but I would at least have thought he would have been about average ten years ago

I think you missed the first decade of the "Jeter Can't Field" wars.

B-b-but what about when he dove into the stands for that foul ball or flipped the ball to the catcher and got Giambi out??!?!

yeah I only really had whatever ESPN told me back then

those awards are used as cake icing for superstars having good offensive seasons usually and we have to remember that a gold glove was once awarded to viagra spokesman/anti-steroid activist rafael palmeiro during a season in which he played something like 15-20 games at first base and the remainder at DH.

since the other thread is on ile

#Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki is transitioning to the role of Special Assistant to the Chairman, effective today.

Read: https://t.co/HlZyrGdcVz pic.twitter.com/Gn4O2UB1Ee

— MarinersPR (@MarinersPR) May 3, 2018

I was hoping for half a season of relief work.

Now I don’t feel as bad about walking Ichiro last night

— Brett Anderson (@BAnderson3737) May 3, 2018

so he is effectively being retired, i guess? i know he has said he never wants to retire

http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/22624561/ichiro-suzuki-return-seattle-mariners-resolve-internal-battle

I didn't know the stuff about the split with his father and the bleeding ulcer in 2009. I hope he can handle being taken off the field.

https://www.mlb.com/mariners/video/ichiro-s-strong-throw-c2523722983?t=t136-default-vtp

<3

just announced that this morning's game will be his last

dayum

xpost

that's an odd thing to do; but such is his way i guess.

lol he is older than me

Ichiro and Kikuchi. 😢 pic.twitter.com/oeE9vATr2b

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) March 21, 2019

My favorite Ichiro stat is that critics were prepared for his batting average to take a real hit when he played for the Mariners (he hit .353 across 9 seasons playing for the Blue Wave)... he finished his MLB rookie season hitting .350.

(my #2 favorite):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtImIqR5neU

hahaha