Think he has a prayer of beating the record?

21 hits in 13 games is certainly possible if he gets enough ABs. Where's his usual spot in the batting order?

Leadoff. He went hitless yesterday. Running out of time.

It's possible, but unlikely given the lack of hitting support from his teammates. He'll be lucky to get 50 ABs unless they start producing as well.

Just my opinion.*


*JR Lemar thinks this is a copyright statement. Nyah nyah nyah.

Yeah, it's a shame the Mariners aren't able to back Ichiro up this year... Ichiro's also been walked a *lot* lately, too. Not sure where he'll end up at the end of the season.

He went five for five last night. On pace for 261 hits. I think he'll do it, as long as they don't start pitching around him. The man has amazing bat control.

So now he just needs 14 hits in 11 games. It's definitely looking MUCH more possible now!

5 for 5??? Really??

Really!!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/s ... ari22.html

Wednesday update:

In his first at-bat against Bartolo Colon of the Angels tonight, Ichiro singled to center.
Ichiro now has 244 hits.

Houston

Ichiro just singled in the top of the sixth. He is 2 for 4 with a walk.....

245 hits.

Another base hit for Ichiro as the Mariners are routing the Angels.

He's 3 for 5 tonight

246 hits.

ANOTHER HIT

He is 4 for 6 tonight, 9 for 11 the last two games.

247 hits

And yet they keep pitching to him!

I guess there is some sort of stigma attached to walking the leadoff batter.

Another update:

Ichiro went one for four Sunday. He has 251 hits, six short of tying the record, with seven games remaining.

Not stigma, just basic baseball logic. If Ichiro is not on base, then he can't be driven in as a run. Even hitting around .300, most games he'll be on base only once a game.

So why do they walk Barry Bonds? Home Runs and doubles. Again, pitching to Barry while there are men on base increases the likelihood that you'll give up at least a run, possibly two if he homers. So Barry only gets pitched to (generally) with the sacks empty.

Sure, I can understand pitching to Ichiro on his first AB, but on later trips to the plate he's usually not the leadoff batter. If you have an open base, why not walk him if he's getting so many hits?

He's not a power hitter. Sometimes it's hard for people on second to score on his singles. He also doesn't walk a lot naturally.

Ichiro is a hitting machine, but not much of an RBI threat. I'd walk Edgar Martinez a lot more than I'd walk Ichiro.

Me... I only walk my dog!

That's cute, Frank. My daughter just got a Mini Dachshund and I was thinking about buying her a hot dog costume for the pup..... I'm afraid it'd cause permanent damage to the puppy's self-esteem, though....

Grommit just likes positive attention, so anything that gets him some is a good thing in his little eyes!