Friday, December 19, 2003
STEP UP
I didn't like John McGrath after his management-defensive stance of the Mariners at the last trade deadline, but this Ichiro article has some jewels.
[Ichiro's] average is down, from a league-leading .350 in 2001 to .312 in 2003. (What do Mark Loretta, Mark Grudzielanek, Scott Podsednik, Mike Lieberthal and A.J. Pierzynski have in common? All of them hit at least .312 last year.)
Ichiro's stolen-base totals have fallen even more dramatically, from 56 (in 70 attempts) as a rookie to 34 (in 42 attempts) in 2003.
[...]
... Ichiro's OPS last season was .788, comparable with the .775 of Mike Cameron, the serial rally killer whose all-or-nothing-at-all swing rendered him expendable.
[...]
Considered an MVP candidate over the first four months of the 2003 season, Ichiro went into a 21-for-124 slump that gutted his batting average from .340 in early August into .307 on Sept. 18.
Golden. Absolutely golden. Great stats.
John McGrath is praying, as are all of us, that the Ichiro we see in 2004 is more like the Ichiro we saw in 2001.
[Ichiro's] average is down, from a league-leading .350 in 2001 to .312 in 2003. (What do Mark Loretta, Mark Grudzielanek, Scott Podsednik, Mike Lieberthal and A.J. Pierzynski have in common? All of them hit at least .312 last year.)
Ichiro's stolen-base totals have fallen even more dramatically, from 56 (in 70 attempts) as a rookie to 34 (in 42 attempts) in 2003.
[...]
... Ichiro's OPS last season was .788, comparable with the .775 of Mike Cameron, the serial rally killer whose all-or-nothing-at-all swing rendered him expendable.
[...]
Considered an MVP candidate over the first four months of the 2003 season, Ichiro went into a 21-for-124 slump that gutted his batting average from .340 in early August into .307 on Sept. 18.
Golden. Absolutely golden. Great stats.
John McGrath is praying, as are all of us, that the Ichiro we see in 2004 is more like the Ichiro we saw in 2001.
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