Ichiro's amazing singles
With Ichiro's 5 for 5 evening last night, we should hardly be surprised all 5 were singles, right? In the month of September, Ichiro has 33 hits, of which 31 are singles!!
Plenty of people have commented on Ichiro's ability to hit for power when he so chooses. The display of power he shows during batting practice is used as proof of this power. We also have Ichiro claiming that all his home runs are on purpose- in the new book about Ichiro he is quoted as saying his HR's aren't just well hit line drives that leave the park. He says he changes his swing to try to hit it over the fence.
It would seem then that Ichiro is clearly going up to the plate trying to hit singles. In doing so, he is also seemingly cutting out doubles and triples.
How is this possible?
You would think Ichiro's speed would result in a larger number of doubles hit in the gaps- but they aren't showing up. Is this just a statistical anomaly? Or is Ichiro going up to the plate, not trying to hit the ball hard, but actually trying to slap the ball for a single?
What he is doing is not entirely unprecedented. Look at Wade Boggs season in 1985. He had 240 hits that year, with only 42 doubles, 3 triples and 8 home runs.
Ichiro currently has 243 hits, with 23 doubles, 5 triples and 8 home runs.
Wade Boggs, w/o Ichiro's speed, still had nearly nearly twice the doubles in a similar number of hits.
There is a side of me that is bothered by the lack of power, but given how poorly the season has gone, does it matter?
For the rest of the season, I'm going to just watch Ichiro hit singles, and worry about the M's lack of power during the winter.
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Nice article in the Seattle Times about blogs and USS Mariner. If you haven't already, check it out- link
With Ichiro's 5 for 5 evening last night, we should hardly be surprised all 5 were singles, right? In the month of September, Ichiro has 33 hits, of which 31 are singles!!
Plenty of people have commented on Ichiro's ability to hit for power when he so chooses. The display of power he shows during batting practice is used as proof of this power. We also have Ichiro claiming that all his home runs are on purpose- in the new book about Ichiro he is quoted as saying his HR's aren't just well hit line drives that leave the park. He says he changes his swing to try to hit it over the fence.
It would seem then that Ichiro is clearly going up to the plate trying to hit singles. In doing so, he is also seemingly cutting out doubles and triples.
How is this possible?
You would think Ichiro's speed would result in a larger number of doubles hit in the gaps- but they aren't showing up. Is this just a statistical anomaly? Or is Ichiro going up to the plate, not trying to hit the ball hard, but actually trying to slap the ball for a single?
What he is doing is not entirely unprecedented. Look at Wade Boggs season in 1985. He had 240 hits that year, with only 42 doubles, 3 triples and 8 home runs.
Ichiro currently has 243 hits, with 23 doubles, 5 triples and 8 home runs.
Wade Boggs, w/o Ichiro's speed, still had nearly nearly twice the doubles in a similar number of hits.
There is a side of me that is bothered by the lack of power, but given how poorly the season has gone, does it matter?
For the rest of the season, I'm going to just watch Ichiro hit singles, and worry about the M's lack of power during the winter.
____________
Nice article in the Seattle Times about blogs and USS Mariner. If you haven't already, check it out- link
"Bloggers, those crusading individuals ranting away on their keyboards to anyone with a live modem, have already influenced national political debates, including the firestorm over Dan Rather's reporting. Even in the relatively bland landscape of Seattle politics, they are starting to find a voice, too.
"We're like the Radio Free Europe for Mariners fans," said Derek Zumsteg, 30, who blogs on the baseball fan site U.S.S. Mariner and says he wants to stimulate "a good fight with hair-pulling and name-calling."
Good stuff!posted by Tom at
10:09 AM
