That is the current headline photo/article on the Yahoo MLB page. Before we get into the laughable aspects of this topic let's go over why Les Carpenter from Yahoo! wrote this article. Wait a minute, his name is "Les"? Oh man, he's making it really hard for me to focus. Ichrio Suzuki was a .311 career hitter in his first 10 seasons in MLB. Ichiro then went into a ridiculous slump where his batting average from May 19-June 9 was .149. A lot of that is because his game was built on his speed and beating out infield hits and he's 37 now. Let's get back to the main point though - Les wrote this article because Ichiro can hit homers during batting practice and wants to know why he doesn't change his game to become a power hitter now that he has lost his speed. Enjoy.
Yahoo - Many are beginning to wonder if his speed is finally leaving him. And if it has, why doesn’t he use the one weapon he has consistently refused to employ? His power.
Anyone who arrives at the ballpark early is dazzled by the amazing sight of the tiny, slender Japanese left-handed hitter in the batting cage, swirling with that awkward but beautiful swing and smashing baseballs deep into the right-field bleachers. It’s a display as awesome as any of the great sluggers who made batting practice a show, like Mark McGwire, Darryl Strawberry and Albert Pujols(notes). But these are giants, men whose arms ripple with muscle. Their games were built around home runs.
As soon as batting practice is over, Ichiro returns to trying to outrace the throw from shortstop.
Ichiro’s power is not a secret. He hit more than 12 home runs in each of his seven full seasons in Japan before coming to the United States in 2001. Once he hit 25. And Japan’s seasons are some 30 games shorter than those here. Several times baseball people have pushed him to join the home run contest at the All-Star game, certain he would win. But he refuses. His great power remains a batting practice sensation.
I can barely finish this post because I'm laughing so hard but I'll do my best.
Stop the presses, Ichiro hit more than 12 homers in 7 straight seasons in Japan! Well that definitely translates to 30+ homers in MLB. You know what else happened in that Japanese league? Hideki Matsui hit 50 bombs there one season. When he came to the MLB he never hit more than 31. Kosuke Fukudome hit 34 dingers one season. In the MLB he has yet to surpass 13. Should we even talk about Dice-K?
Do we really need to discuss the issue of Les saying "why doesn’t he use the one weapon he has consistently refused to employ"? You're right Les, Ichiro knows he can hit 30 home runs every season. He probably sits down by himself in a dark corner of a room and has a heart to heart where he says, "You know what Ichiro, I think it'd be better for the team if you hit singles instead of homers".
That brings us to Ichiro's Ruthian display of power during batting practice. First of all, it's batting practice. Second of all, it's batting practice. Third of all, it's batting practice. Fourth of all, it's batting practice. Fifth of all, it's batting practice. Sixth of all, I don't think I'm using "of all" correctly anymore but I don't care. Seventh of all, it's fucking batting practice.
Finally, in 10.5 seasons in MLB Ichiro has 90 TOTAL home runs and has never hit more than 15 in a single season and has only hit double digit homers 3 times. But yes, Les, you're right, Ichiro can hit 30 homers every season but figuring out why he doesn't will be one of the great unsolved questions of the universe. Like "What happened to Tupac?". Or "Do black holes exist?". Or "What caused the great depression?". Or "Who hired Joe Buck to call World Series games?".
If it was so easy every asshole would be doing it.
