Ichiro

[lethal]

Ichiro went 5 for 5 last night mean leaving him needing 14 hits in 12 games.

To break the record in 154 games, he needs those 14 hits in the next 4 games.

[Faithless]

^ It's possible, but probably won't happen. (Ichiro, prove me wrong!)

There was a point some time last week or so, where in the same number of games, Ichiro was said to have had more hits than Sisler. Sisler then went off on a torrid hitting spree to get that number.

[kurei kun]

that's not a bsaeball bat he's holding

that's like a freaking magic wand.

[Faithless]

9-22-4, Ichiro had 4 hits. He has 247 through his 151 games.

11 hits in 3 games to break Sisler's record. He makes it seem so easy.

[mrazntre]

that's so freaking crazy. 2 games, 9 hits... automatically cutting down the magic number in half!!

[Faithless]

9-24-4, Ichiro had 2 hits. He now has 249 through his 152 games.

I don't think he's going to break Sisler's record in the same number of games, but he will break it.

Oh, they'll put the asterisk by Suzuki's name, but whose to say that if Sisler played the same number of games that Ichiro will play, that Sisler would have had as many hits?

[yoMAMA]

Ichiro can do it!

[mrazntre]

Let's go Ichiro!

[Faithless]

9-25-4, Ichiro had 1 hit. He now has 250 through his 153 games.

Even if he expects to tie Sisler in the same number of games, he needs 7 hits, today!

It would have to a wild and crazy game!

[kurei kun]

you know

i wonder how people would react if every opponent intentionally walked him

or intentionally walked him on his last at-bat of the season that could have given him 258

[BeTheReds]

I just thought of something...

What if the pitchers were to try to protect the record by intentionally walking, beaning, or just throwing Ichiro unhittable crap?

I for one would be very pleased by that.


Don't get me wrong, I love Ichiro and I respect what he is doing, but this would be sweet revenge.


In Japan, any time a foreigner aproaches an offensive record, the whole league snaps and throws him crap so that he can't break it.

2 recent cases are when Tuffy Rhodes and Alex Cabrera tried to hit more than 55 HRs to break Sadaharu Oh's single season home run record.

in 2001 Rhodes had 54 HRs with 5 or 6 games left in the season, and only managed to hit one more. (He played a few of these last games against the Daiei Hawks, a team which Oh manages.) The Hawks pitchers threw him crap.

in 2002 Cabrera was also at the 55 HR mark with over a week left but he also was thrown crap (once even walked intentionally with the bases loaded in a 1-0 game in the 8th inning.)

The same can be seen for other foreign players in Japan as they near hitting streaks or HR or RBI totals.

I do hope Ichiro breaks Sisler's record. But if anyone tried to stop him by throwing him junk out of revenge for what goes on in Japan, I'd understand.

[Faithless]

^ Well, if that's the case, why aren't they starting now?

He got his 252nd hit on 9-27-4, going 1-4.

In the other at bats, he made contact outs --
Ichiro's 9-27 game

...fouling out in the first inning and grounding out in the third and sixth innings...

.
Mariner's Ichiro tracker web page

[cmar]

Maybe I've missed it, but I don't understand why the media isn't all over this. Breaking Sisler's record is one of those amazing accomplishments, like breaking Marris's single season home run record, Aaron's career home run record, or a player hitting 400. Even more so, Sisler's record was one of those things that no one thought would ever be broken. This is like someone approaching Ripken's consecutive game total. It's an amazing individual accomplishment that deserves more attention outside of Seattle and Japan.

I watch a lot of sports, but I don't see them breaking into the broadcast to show us each time Ichiro bats. I think they would. I have to check the box scores on the internet to see how he did, which is crazy!

Anyway, I wish Ichrio good luck. If he wants to come play for the Red Sox, we will welcome him and give him the attention and credit he deserves. :-)

[Faithless]

^ Yeah, I hear you. It's hard to excuse it -- maybe, it's not a sexy-enough record like homeruns are?

The Seattle Times did note the same thing --

Ichiro's chase lacking in appreciation

OAKLAND, Calif. — The media attention on Ichiro's pursuit of George Sisler's hit record has become frenetic. An entire nation, in fact, has become fixated on his every move, waiting to burst forth with adulation if and when it finally becomes a fait accompli.

That's the way it is in Japan, anyway.

"The whole nation is rooting for him," said Akio Hayano, a producer for Tokyo-based NHK television. "It leads the news reports each night, not just the sports reports."

Here in America, however, something intriguing has happened. Or not happened. Ichiro's conquering of a long-standing, major record has inspired tremendous local interest, but nationally has not come anywhere close to matching the hubbub that surrounded Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa in 1998.
...

.
Oh by the way, Ichiro's special balls --

Special baseballs for Ichiro's record chase

SEATTLE (AP) - Major League Baseball and the Seattle Mariners have begun using special balls as Ichiro Suzuki approaches George Sisler's record of 257 hits in a season.

A spokeswoman told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer that members of MLB's security team will be with the team for the rest of the season to supply numbered baseballs marked with a hologram each time Suzuki comes to the plate.
Similar balls were used when Barry Bonds made his move on 700 homers a few weeks ago.

Any home run or foul ball that Suzuki hits into the stands "is for the fans to keep," MLB representative Linda Pantell said on Sunday. "Every other ball will get returned to me. What happens then we're still working on."

The system went into effect on Sunday, when Suzuki singled to boost his hit total to 251 with seven games remaining in a 9-0 Seattle victory at Texas.

Each time he came to the plate, Pantell handed four balls to the bat boy, who passed them to the home plate umpire. Each one, except for fouls, was returned to Pantell.

A night earlier, when he hit No. 250, Suzuki said he wasn't keeping that ball and wasn't planning to keep any others, but he admitted he might change his mind.

[mrazntre]

I think Ichiro's been getting a lot of attention from Sports Center... but not from the local sportscaster's.

I was kinda surprised to read about the special balls from the MLB.

So many records being broken lately.... I wonder if everyone's juicing up, everyone else is that bad, or these lone guys are just that good.