Will Ichiro get the * from Maris?

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Posted By: Gary B.

Could Bonds having 10 less rbi's less than Beltre and only 120 hits so far have anything to do with walking 196 times, 102 of those times intentional? I'm sorry, but there really is no argument for another player that I can buy. If he also batted .374 (an unbelievable statistic considering how many official at bats he gets with all the walks that would upset the rhythm of almost any other mortal) on just those 102 IBB's, that would be 38 more hits more right there, and his rbi total would be insane, with all the additional home runs (he'd have 12 more or 52 in that scenario), not to mention all the times he's walked with someone on base that he would have batted in. He's got 40 homers, but he's also got 25 doubles, a triple and 54 singles, he's far from being "just" home runs. You can't find fault in some of his statistics when it's due to the fact that he so often doesn't get pitched to. And why is that? Because he's the most feared, best hitter of this generation, not to mention this year. Isn't that enough to earn him MVP honors?

His numbers are just astounding, and there's no way to make an argument for someone else that isn't a major reach (no offense). The man has 40 home runs with 30 strikeouts! His OPS, which many people use to determine how good a season someone had is NUMBER ONE of ALL TIME by a significant margin. BTW, has anyone noticed his slugging percentage has crept up to .832? At this rate, that's 4th all time behind Bonds (.863), Ruth (.847) & Ruth (.846). It won't take too much more for it to be Bonds, Bonds, Ruth & Ruth.

He's not on one of the best teams in the NL, no one would question that, but they are in playoff contention one week into September. Without him... I don't think so.