Sure hope Beltre can go into the season with the thumb healed.

I'm starting to think it would be kinda cool to have Ichiro go hitless through all of ST, then end up with a .400 BA for the season. You know, just for something different.

Good luck, Lowe.

Jose,
I can tell you what happened in the a's half of the eigth inning. A catcher by the name of Justin Knoedler hit a triple wit the bags full. I played against him growing up in Springfield, Illinois and he can flat out hit and he has a cannon behind the plate. The way this game looks the m's could have used some extra bp in this one!!

Oregongal, that would be awesome wouldn't it? He could be experimenting a bit right now since Mac basically challenged him to hit .400. It amazes me that this has generated so much attention. Nobody needs to worry about Ichiro. When the regular season arrives he will be just fine. The guy could hit .290 blindfolded!

Oregongal - Yep. Not to sound like a homer, but I really do think Ichiro is about the only one who could break .400, in the game today. Been waiting for him to do it for a good 3 or 4 years.

What will be even more incredible is the effort he will put in to convert to a 25-30 hr kind of guy, when his legs finally slow down and he can't rely on infield singles anymore.

Ichiro would hit .400 if he took some walks instead of grounding out on pitches out of the zone that only he can hit.

Dignan.... Excellent point! Ichiro could well be the point of Mac's memo on having a look at the ball. Obviously the man can put the bat on the ball better than most anyone in the game. The idea of leadoff batter is to get on base. A walk is OK & Ichiro could have as many walks as he wants. If he would show patience and make them put the ball in the zone his avg. could go well beyond .400. It's OK to walk... even if you are a vet.

Complaining about how Ichiro hits is like complaining about how Picasso paints. We may wish he did some things different, but to whimper about one of the greatest pure hitters of the last 50 years isn't worth the time.

BLT, just to clarify on the LHP front, after thinking about it, I realized you must have been talking about three or four on the whole staff. I was talking about one or two in the bullpen.

Oops...

But I don't think 2 lefty SPs and 2 lefty RPs is a big deal. I like having 2 lefties out of the 'pen...

With all due respect to John, there is no such thing as a pure hitter, unless you believe, the movie,"The Natural" is non-fiction. The greatest hitters of all time like the great Ted Williams, Aaron, Mays, Rose, Gwynn all practiced hour upon hour working on hitting. If Ichiro is to be considered in their class, mixing in walk when a leadoff batter is needed to start a rally when your team is behind is thinking of the team, not your number of 200 hit seasons, first. All of the afore mentioned batters worked the count, took a walk rather than swing at a first pitch most of the time, and all of them, are superior to Ichiro in OBP, slugging %, BB, and extra basehits. Ichiro is a great hitter, but he would tell John that his father's hours of work instilled the eye-hand coordination to hit a baseball...he was not born with that skill.

Being a pure hitter doesn't mean that you were born with it. Being a pure hitter doesn't even mean that you couldn't be more helpful to your team by walking more (which Ichiro could) or singing different songs in the shower, or whatever.
When I say "pure hitter" I'm simply talking about the ability to put the bat on the ball, and in Ichiro's case, get on base - a lot. It's not his fault he's fast and that helps.
Compared to others who have played the game at the highest level, I believe Ichiro is one of the greatest "pure hitters" who has ever played. It has nothing to do with being a "natural." The fact that he's one of the youngest in history to 3,000 hits (in Japan and U.S.) obviously shows that.

To gripe about someone like Ichiro because he could be doing something better ... it just doesn't make any sense.

ARod ... for all his great numbers ... can be a cancer on a team and still hasn't shown he can hit in the clutch.
Ortiz ... great, great hitter ... slower than glue. Does that mean you wouldn't want him on your team?
Bonds ... pounds the ball ... juiced and a jerk.

There are guys out there who do everything pretty well, and even have good attitudes. Those guys are gold.

But almost every "great" player I can think of has an Achilles heel of some sort. But when they do something great - like Ichiro does - just be thankful and move on.

John, when you mention the "cancerous" side attributes of Bonds and A-rod, it reminds me how M's fans too often take for granted what a true and positive talent we have in Ichiro. I guess we can scrutinize the word "pure" hitter until it means someone who bats 1000 and every hit is a home run, but most of us here know what you mean about Ichiro being among the elite of the elite as a contact hitter.