Big Mistake: Dissing Ichiro. (urgh!)

[jetpack42]

OK, now I'm pissed. You can dis my mother, but when you start dissing Ichiro, we can take it outside.

http://msn.foxsports.com/story/2898514

This futhermucker has no clue what he's talking about. If he's reading this, I challenge him to a fistfight.

[Sok N. Wett]

That rat bastards...Ichiro is great, I use to watch him when he first came into the Mariners, that was the only reason why I watched baseball.

[flex mathews]

that guy is douche. ichiro is a beast, plain and simple.

[nardfrog]

This anus licker is just hating on on him because everyone else likes him. Im sure you all know ppl like this: they hate something great just because it is great and everyone knows it. To be different.

Im not sure how he qualified as a journalist, but he is a complete dipshit. Since the allstar break ichiro is batting something like .460 his arm is amazing and while standing deep in right field, he can put out a guy running full speed at third base. Currently his batting average is 378.

nuff said

[FlipMcgee]

I'm not a baseball fan at all but I've read another article about Ichiro's closing in on the record for hits in a season in the New York Sunday Times, detailing and giving similar stats and argument as the article above.

Basically the issue here is a clash of playing style and culture. In Japan, technique is a paramount goal whereas in the U.S. Major Leagues it's power. But both articles point out that Ichiro is a good player. So...don't be quick to fault these sportswriters if they're just putting his stats in context of the local culture and perception of the game.

From the NYTimes article:
"They idolize technique and skill in Japan more than Americans do," said the Dodgers' pitching coach, Jim Colborn, who coached and scouted there for eight years in the 1990's. "How you do something is paramount in Japan. Here, it's more about achieving the numbers. Power is the American way."

From the newswire:
"One of the reasons we are talking about this is because he doesn't have to hit a ball hard to get a hit," Mariners manager Bob Melvin said. "He's the best in the league at legging balls out and making infielders move one way or another. That's what he does and keeps racking [hits] up."

(after Ichiro was forced out from a foiled bunt with two outs and a runner on second base)...."It's my fault," Melvin said. "My communication wasn't as good as it should have been. We pay him to get on base and score runs. Granted, he is a hitting machine and with a guy on second and two out, you would like to see him knock the run in. He understands that. But his mindset is that of a table-setter and getting on base."

[jetpack42]

baseball is a team game. ichiro does more then any player in the game to give his team an opportunity to win. just because he doesn't hit a home run every 20 at bats doesn't mean a thing. He more then makes up for it in every other aspect of the game.

its a pretty neanderthal assumption to make that "just because he doesnt hit home runs, he's overrated".

then again, maybe they've never watched him play.