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© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Ichiro's milestone raises familiar questions about context
By NOAH TRISTER©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Yubaru
Here is the question, will the JPLB recognize Ichiro's record as top here in Japan?
Dan Lewis
If getting hits, homers, etc is so much easier in Japan, do all the players that come from the States to play in Japan play like baseball gods? They must because it is sooo much easier here.
Fact is that on average, all baseball players today are stronger faster and better than players 30 years ago and those plays more so than players before them. Better training, harder workouts, improved technology, and a wealth of game history to research. Pete Rose was great, but records are made to be broken. And some day, Ichiro will have the record/title taken from him.
rainyday
It us worth mentioning that when Oh surpassed Hank Aaron's career total Aaron sent a recorded message congratulating Oh on his achievement and offering high praise for him.
The two became friends after that and have done a lot to promote the game in each other's countries.
Rose on the other hand wasted no time in disparaging Ichiro's accomplishment and creating an environment where instead of celebrating Ichiro is almost being shamed into apologizing for surpassing him.
Hank Aaron is cool, Pete Rose sucks.
scap
The encouragement and support Ichiro got from U.S. fans as he was breaking records was impressive. It was an example of good sportsmanship. Would a foreign player get the same support here? I doubt it. In fact, in the past, Japanese baseball has tried to prevent foreign players from breaking records held by Japanese. The classic incident was when Randy Bass was approaching Oh's home run record at the end of the 1985 season. In the last few games he was walked every time by Oh's Giants. Other similar incidents followed over the years. How about that for sportsmanship?
GyGene
I just say, WOW, what a great player! And so far, he's shown himself to also be a good person. I don't mean Rose is a bad person, but everyone knows he committed an unpardonable sin in baseball by betting. But, he still is the hit king. I'm hoping Ichiro keeps going and going and going...
aedfed
Given the difference in the dimensions of Japanese and Major League ball parks, Oh's record is definitely suspect. However, you can make a better argument for Ichiro's record, given that he demonstrated he could hit equally well in both leagues.
edojin
As I said before, Ichiro should be given a "career" record, thus tying together the Japan and Major League records. But his Major League record goals concerning hits is still in the "live" situation. In another article, MLB said it does not recognize combined stats, so Ichiro isn't revising Major League numbers. As far as the Major League record book is concerned, Ichiro is closing in on Sam Rice (2,985) for 30th place on the Majors' all-time hits list.
Pukey2
I'm surprise they let him break the record. Sorry, I was thinking of another country.
some14some
No more questions after such a rebuke, take it with a grain of salt, full stop or talk about two separate stats Hiragana and Katakana !
stickman1760
are you kidding? I think its the opposite. A pitcher's game in Japan, a batter's game in the US. Japanese pitchers make the game here dull by wasting all the time on the mound. They take forever between pitches and if they have two strikes on the batter, they will nibble until the count gets full and then finally throw a strike.
nath
It bears keeping in mind that baseball in Japan has traditionally been a batter's game, providing more "action" for the fans, and a pitcher's game in the States. That said, whether or not Ichiro reaches 3000 lifetime hits in the majors, he will be remembered as one of the most outstanding hitters of his time, and the greatest Japanese player of his generation in the majors.