Baseball Thread Number 8: Cal Ripken says the playoff hunt is fun

He only recognizes stats that come out of a computer.

 

Ichiro's 2005 hits in less than nine season are worthless because he doesn't walk enough.

 

If someone wants to argue Ichiro is selfish and far more often concerned with himself than the team, that's fine. I'll also point out Wade Boggs got north of 90 pct of the vote in his first year on the HOF ballot.

All-timers are usually selfish and only concerned with their stats. Doesn't diminish the depth of their accomplishments.

 

I'm not quite sure how getting hits is selfish.
A ground out to second to move a runner from second to third is better than an RBI single?
Or, as crusty old Jim Frey used to say when a guy was getting high-fived for advacing the runner, "how about a fucking double up the gap."

 

I'm not saying I agree with the perception, but it is out there: Ichiro is selfish and just wants to rack up singles. Because, you know, a .350 hitter is bad for the team.

 

Especially a lead-off hitter who hits .350. Very bad.

 

Won't someone think of the collies?

 

Joe Mauer does. We've already been over this.

But as always, there is at least one person here who thinks any collies molested by a ballplayer were asking for it.

 

"Is it fair to say, based on the responses so far, that the reason is that it was Ichiro who established the record?"

I was careful to write, "based on the responses so far".

Is the Yankee hits record, for example, a glamour record whose previous holder many could have identified without looking it up? (I would have guessed Bernie Williams.)

I do think my question is being answered--thanks for that.

 

The Yankees hit record was held by one of the greatest, most iconic players in baseball history.
Did you really think it was Bernie Williams?

 

Yes, I thought he might hold the Yankee's hit record.

Bernie Williams played exclusively for the Yankees for a good long time and was a good hitter. Frankly, when I looked up Gehrig's record I found that he had played a couple more years than I thought. If this astonishes you, maybe you'll take the fact that I'm not a Yankees fan into consideration.

I did know that Gehrig had eight years of at least 200 hits and 100 runs scored.

(So does Ichiro.)

 

You also must be under 25 years of age.