Where does Ichiro Suzuki stand among the best?
 

I think Ichiro should be on the top 5 list of best hitters to ever play.

Here is the link to his career stats, take a look: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/...DIQP0xxxuFCLcF

Probably the most consistent and impressive statistical record I have ever seen from a modern day player since Albert Pujols.

10 straight seasons of 200+ hits and .300+ batting average.

He scored exactly 111 runs FOUR times, plus a crazy amount of steals, extra base hits, and runs scored EVERY season.

In 2004 he hit .372, probably the closest ever to .400 since Ted Williams.

Had he started playing 7 years earlier he would have surpassed Pete Rose on the all time hit list, no question.

Feel free to discuss.

Ichiro is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

But there have been numerous seasons better than his .372. Rod Carew hit .388, George Brett hit .390, and Tony Gwynn hit .394 in a strike season. And didn't Larry Walker hit .379? I believe so.

Ichiro should be first ballot
 

Ichiro was the last great player I have seen in person. A few years ago I flew down to my hometown Huntington Beach Calif to visit my dad. We went to the Angel game and saw Ichiro single handedly beat our Angels. When he came to bat, I sensed that extra air of confidence - almost like Ichiro new he was going to get a hit - and did - and there was nothing you were going to do to stop him. I turned to my dad and said, this guy we are now watching is a Hall of Famer.

Not a power hitter, I would put him in the list with Carew and Rose - great contact hitters that could seemingly slap the ball with precision and get the hit. Ichiro has great speed - can get to first fast - like I remember Mickey Rivers flat out fast. And his throwing arm is top notch. He can play on my team anytime.

If Ichiro didn't enter the show so late in life I think he'd take down Rose. He is a lot faster than Rose. Kind of off topic, but does anyone else think Rose is over rated? Sure he is the hit king, but when you play the most games in the majors and have the most at bats you have a good shot at having the most hits.

[QUOTE=barrysloate;1000447]Ichiro is a first ballot Hall of Famer.

+1 and most certainly will be the first Japanese in the hall. Needs to play about 3 more years to get that HOF lock of 3k hits. But at 39, that's iffy.

Ichiro has nearly 2500 major league hits and another 1200+ in the Japanese leagues. That's 3700 professional hits and he's still going.

I don't know if he's over-rated. That longevity also hurt a lot of his other numbers. Pretty impressive leading the league in hits at 40 years old though.

I don't think anybody claims he's the best ever.

Not a big base-stealer like Ichiro, but he sure could find the hole. Always among the league leaders in Doubles.

Ichiro also plays great defense and has (well, had) a cannon arm in RF.

The other day he had a two-HR game. So while his swing isn't an uppercut - its more of a slap-swing - he's got some pop at times.

Fun to watch him play! Very humble on the field, never hear negative publicity about him, and gives more effort than you'd expect from a star player on a consistently sucky team :)

A Seattle resident, I knew about his batting before he came. The one thing that surprised me was how good of a fielder he was. Though a thin guy, he had a rocket for an arm.

I was watching the game of the week live when Ichiro first came on the scene and that was when he made "The Throw" to gun down Terrence Long at third base. I became an Ichiro fan that night. He's a Hall-of-Famer.

Don't think Rose is overrated. Led the league in hits 7 times BA 3 times with an ROY and MVP..Also I believe that longetivty is important and is quite an accomplishment in and of itself.