Ichiro "transitioning to front office role"

[Yelling At Clouds]

Thought this merited its own thread instead of getting lost in the omnibus "MLB News" one.

https://www.mlb.com/news/ichiro-suzuki-retires-moves-to-front-office/c-275071046

 

[mauidano]

The thought that Ichiro has that he might play next year is a pipe dream. He needs to put that pipe down. No one plays forever.

The Sports Illustrated article on him a couple months ago was a fascinating insight into an incredibly OCD individual.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

The thought that Ichiro has that he might play next year is a pipe dream. He needs to put that pipe down. No one plays forever.

The Sports Illustrated article on him a couple months ago was a fascinating insight into an incredibly OCD individual.

Is it? They start the season in Japan. He get's an AB and then retires. I don't know if Seattle would be willing to do it and I think there is no way he plays anything beyond that though.

 

[jon abbey]

Yeah, I think that’s the plan and why it’s worded the way it is. Amazing career, remarkable, special player.

 

[Kliq]

If you haven't seen it, the ESPN the Magazine article on him working out in Japan trying to get an MLB job over the winter is a fascinating read. He had an overbearing father; and working hard to play baseball is the only life he seemed to know.

 

[santadevil]

This is the article people are mentioning above
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/22624561/ichiro-suzuki-return-seattle-mariners-resolve-internal-battle

I read it when it came out and it was very fascinating and also a bit sad

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

Really interesting to think about what his career counting statistics might have looked like if he had played his entire career in MLB instead of Japan.

If you compare his combined stats with Pete Rose you end up with:
Rose: 3,562 Games, 15,890 PAs, 2,165 Runs, 4256 Hits, 160 HRs, 1,314 RBIs, 198 SBs
Suzuki: 3,602 Games, 14,826 PAs, 2,078 Runs, 4,367 Hits, 235 HRs, 1,309 RBIs, 708 SBs

Ichiro definitely would likely not have put up quite the stats in the majors that he did in Japan, but there also are more games in a major league season: 162 v 144 and Ichiro averaged 124/season after he became a full time starter.

 

[Max Power]

 

[DJnVa]

Every Ichiro hit:

 

[E5 Yaz]

That infield double is interesting

 

[santadevil]

I see just one opposite field homerun...wonder if that cleared the fence and was an inside the park one

 

[YTF]

A lot of folks will never fully realize what in incredible talent this man was. Over 200 hits in his first 10 seasons in the league including an amazing 242 in his rookie year (yeah he was 27, but completely new to this league and it's players) and a mind boggling 262 hits 3 seasons later.

 

[Cesar Crespo]

It's amazing he got to 3000 hits in the Majors given the fact he was 27 when he entered the Majors.

 

[glasspusher]

That infield double is interesting

I was thinking "that's a shitload of infield hits"

 

[YTF]

Not sure of the actual number, but I think he was in the neighborhood of 700 infield hits. He used to have that amazing slap swing as he was starting to make his way out of the left handed batter's box.

 

[Kliq]

A lot of folks will never fully realize what in incredible talent this man was. Over 200 hits in his first 10 seasons in the league including an amazing 242 in his rookie year (yeah he was 27, but completely new to this league and it's players) and a mind boggling 262 hits 3 seasons later.

Not to mention his fielding, throwing arm, and base running, all of which were of the highest quality for most of his career.

 

[YTF]

Not to mention his fielding, throwing arm, and base running, all of which were of the highest quality for most of his career.

Yeah he had twice the arm of men twice the size and over 500 stolen bases. Just an incredible all around player.

 

[shaggydog2000]

Not to mention his fielding, throwing arm, and base running, all of which were of the highest quality for most of his career.

And according to stories, the greatest pre-game speech giver in history:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/ichiros-speech-stars-revealed-162200184--mlb.html

 

[Sad Sam Jones]

Not sure of the actual number, but I think he was in the neighborhood of 700 infield hits. He used to have that amazing slap swing as he was starting to make his way out of the left handed batter's box.

713. It seems hit location wasn't categorized until the '70s, so it's impossible to say how that compares to guys like Pete Rose, Lou Brock, Eddie Collins or Lloyd Waner. Of those I could think to compare, only Craig Biggio is within 150 of that total (627), although Juan Pierre's total of 538 is even more [insert your own adjective here]. That's 24.3% of Pierre's hits, compared to 23.1% for Ichiro.

*

 

[simplicio]

I was thinking "that's a shitload of infield hits"

The sheer quantity of hits directly back to the pitcher blows my mind.

 

[glasspusher]

The thought that Ichiro has that he might play next year is a pipe dream. He needs to put that pipe down. No one plays forever.

Maybe you should tell that to Bartolo Colon.

 

[DJnVa]

I see just one opposite field homerun...wonder if that cleared the fence and was an inside the park one

No idea about that one, but Kevin Long, who I think was with him in NY, said Ichiro would hit as many homers in BP as anyone he ever had, but he just didn't swing like that in games.

 

[santadevil]

No idea about that one, but Kevin Long, who I think was with him in NY, said Ichiro would hit as many homers in BP as anyone he ever had, but he just didn't swing like that in games.

Ya, I had heard those stories too. My parents went to Jays games in Seattle many years ago, but didn't make it to batting practice, so Dad never confirmed for me

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Ya, I had heard those stories too. My parents went to Jays games in Seattle many years ago, but didn't make it to batting practice, so Dad never confirmed for me

Heh. He would hit a few but not really. There are multiple videos of him in BP on the internet.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

 

[Cesar Crespo]

Heh, if anyone had doubts about Tom Brady's regimen before, being tied to Arod doesn't help.