Ichiro has had only 24 hitless games this entire season. Compare that to some of the other hitters? sure!
Albert Pujols: 34 hitless games
Barry Bonds: 48 hitless games
Todd Helton: 32 hitless games
Considering what Ichiro's JOB in the Majors is, he's done a more than fine job. You don't castricize hitters of the past that got the Single Season Singles record with 198 singles as being "bad hitters"....IT'S THEIR JOB TO GET ON BASE, and the best way to do that, the PROFESSIONAL way to do that, the UNSELFISH way to do that, is to get a single. Ichiro does it any way he can. You think he's selfish for always getting things started only to hope and pray he can rely on the batter's behind him? Give me a break! You know what happened to the M's this year? Growing pain. Certain guys got older and couldn't perform as well, and quite frankly, in a stadium with as big of dimensions as Safeco has, the older you get and the less power you have, the less production you're going to bring in for your team. In a few years the Padres will be experiencing the same thing. When you're a Leadoff hitter you're not selfishly thinking "get the double!" all the time! the MANAGER wants you to just get on base and use your speed to get across the plate. It says alot that while the entire AL knows the threat Ichiro presents, he has persisted on and now will break 6 or 7 records this year because of it. You say numbers are so important, and you think (and I don't know where you get this crazy idea) that leadoff hitters should be trying to leg out a double whenever they can...well RECORDS speak louder than Numbers, especially when it's not just one, but MANY Records, some HUGE, some not such a big deal....and with all the records he's breaking in establishing himself as the best leadoff hitter of our time, if not of all time, he deserves alot of recognition and consideration for MVP.
If Ichiro lost a little of his Superstar status in his last few years, these records will propel him back to stardom in no time.
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