Ichiro named MVP of MLB All-Star Game

[noname]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/gameday_recap.jsp?ymd=20070710&content_id=2079841&vkey=recap&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb

[grimfan]

Hearing about Ichiro's phenomenal exploits is hardly news anymore. If he wins a World Series, he'll be right up there with Ted Williams and Pete Rose as one of the game's best hitters.

[lethal]

Ted Williams never won a world series.

[yoMAMA]

ichiro is a stud.

[CBC guy]

He hit a freaking inside-the-park-home run! I can only do that on my old High Heat Baseball games on the PC on easy mode!n But in real life?

[popculturepooka]

..........and the parades (and orgasms) in Japan begin.

I can't wait be bombarded with Ichiro propganda. CAN'T. WAIT.

*sighs*

Good for him though.

[BeTheReds]

Being All Star MVP is nothing... It's just one game. Ichiro's other awards and records are more impressive. It's an honor he shares with forgettable people like Julio Franco and Terry Steinbach.

Rookie of the Year and MVP of the season in his first year...
Several golden gloves
MLB all time record for hits in a single season

He's a damn good player, and not for being all star MVP...

[bluemonq]

Ted Williams never won a world series.
No, but he did get the Triple Crown. Twice. Which is two times more than Ichiro Suzuki - and at least one more than just about everybody else (exception: Hornsby of the Cardinals back in 1921). And he was the last person in the past seven decades to hit over .400. Good enough hitter for you?

[yoMAMA]

there are rumors of the mariners offering him 5 years/$100 mil to stay at seattle.

[haplesshobo]

there are rumors of the mariners offering him 5 years/$100 mil to stay at seattle.

I'm a big Ichiro fan, but strictly from a baseball point of view, I don't know if I would pay a 33 year old player that amount given his on base percentage(his batting average is impressive but that's offset by the low number of walks he draws) and his slugging percentage. But, I guess the ability to market Ichiro, especially to the Japanese, is what's behind these numbers.

[lethal]

No, but he did get the Triple Crown. Twice. Which is two times more than Ichiro Suzuki - and at least one more than just about everybody else (exception: Hornsby of the Cardinals back in 1921). And he was the last person in the past seven decades to hit over .400. Good enough hitter for you?

grimfan was implying that for Ichiro to be ranked among the greatest hitters like Ted Williams, he'd have to win a World Series. I disagree for many reasons, but I pointed out the lowest hanging fruit. Ted Williams never won a World Series. Winning a Championship has no bearing on Ichiro's, or any other hitter's, rank among the greatest hitters ever. Anyway, a baseball team consists of 25 players and no one player can win a World Series by himself, not even a dominant pitcher/hitter like Babe Ruth could win unless he was surrounded by talent. I was highlighting that preposterious notion that grimfan was trying to point out.

I'd still rank the Splendid Splinter as the 4th or 5th best all time hitter. Ichiro doesn't crack the top 20. He just doesn't have the power. Don't get me wrong though, Ichiro's one of my favorite players.

[Faithless]

I just happened to turn to the game, when Ichiro hit that inside the parker.

I just knew he'd have a shot at one when that ball took that strange bounce.

Then they showed the replays of him rounding the bases. Tell me, but did it seem like he ran a medium pace to 2nd, then jetted from there? I mean it didn't seem like he was burning around the bases from the get go.

He's also smooth. He has some damn good confidence. He went back to that dugout in a quiet, "Yeah baby!" sort of way.

[CBC guy]

I just happened to turn to the game, when Ichiro hit that inside the parker.

I just knew he'd have a shot at one when that ball took that strange bounce.

Then they showed the replays of him rounding the bases. Tell me, but did it seem like he ran a medium pace to 2nd, then jetted from there? I mean it didn't seem like he was burning around the bases from the get go.

He's also smooth. He has some damn good confidence. He went back to that dugout in a quiet, "Yeah baby!" sort of way.

I think for the first two bases he knew for sure he had at least a 2 bagger, so he ran at medium pace. Then he saw how much trouble he was causing and was probably thinking, "you know what, I have a shot at this!" so he ran all out and got rewarded. Pretty crazy and extremely rare.

[monkeygone2]

I guess the ability to market Ichiro, especially to the Japanese, is what's behind these numbers.

i'm an ichiro fan, but i agree. it's ticket sales & merch.

[haplesshobo]

i'm an ichiro fan, but i agree. it's ticket sales & merch.

And, also the fact that Seattle was not going to lose another Superstar after ARod, Ken Griffey Jr., and Randy Johnson.

But, now, I'm curious how much money Seattle is able to get from Japan with regards to Ichiro-mania? I know that Japanese firms pay money to put up Japanese billboards up in Seattle's baseball stadium for all the Japanese viewers to see when the Japanese watch Ichiro play. But, the real money should be in the TV rights for the Japanese to watch Seattle play. However, I think every MLB team gets to share in that money.

[grimfan]

Ichiro's their only name player, and if they let him go, the fans would've rioted (especially after the departure of Johnson and Rodriguez).

[Faithless]

i'm an ichiro fan, but i agree. it's ticket sales & merch.
I'd be mortified if that hot dog eating dude got more beer commercials than Ichiro. :frown: