Jose Altuve compared to the 3000 hit club

He is better at getting hits. They might be singles, but I don't think anyone did that better than him.

 

I've read some articles by James, can't argue any of his points and the article I was reading had to do with the moving of the pitchers mound. Men like Speaker I believe would have thrived in today's baseball.

 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>These items are now MLB authenticated artifacts that Jose Altuve will keep from his 1,000th hit game. <a href="https://t.co/8peQgOvXOf" title="http://twitter.com/AstrosTalk/status/765761229537370113/photo/1">pic.twitter.com/8peQgOvXOf</a></p>&mdash; Mike Acosta (@AstrosTalk) <a href="https://twitter.com/AstrosTalk/status/765761229537370113" data-datetime="2016-08-17T04:04:38+00:00">August 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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He was deemed "too small" to have an impact

Obviously that was wrong

Wonder if the "small body" will break down at an earlier age?

No way to know what he will be like in 8-12 years

But right now, he is baseballs best player

 

He's actually not better, he just has more of them. Ted Williams is a career .344 hitter and Ichiro is at .313. Ichiro doesn't even belong anywhere near the same discussion as Ted Williams when it comes to the caliber of hitter he was.

 

Good call, but forget BA.... the biggest forgotten separator for hitters IMO is BB-K.

Ichiro, who wasn't even a power hitter, is 620-1021. That ratio sucks for power hitter, much less a slappy. Teddy Ballgame was nearly 3-1, with power.

This is also Cabrera's biggest weakness. He's like 900-1400. Still a great hitter, but he will forever be in the bottom end of greatest hitters despite the Triple.

AROD has more Ks than BBs... not Miguel bad, but still.

Bonds is an absolute beast with 2500-1800 IIRC, with bookoo power.

Ichiro is mainly a niche player whose specialty was getting hits. He's not even a top 50 hitter in MLB history.

 

I see your point, but I gotta say.. I respectfully disagree. BB/K ratio is extremely valuable to determine the effectiveness of an at-bat, but not whether a guy can get base hits. When I think of hitters I move up those pure contact players like Ichiro.

 

Are you seriously arguing that Ichiro is a better hitter than Ruth and Williams?

I can guarantee that if you ask any major league manager, past or present, if they could pick one of Ruth, Williams or Ichiro to be on their team none would pick Ichiro.

Over the course of his career, Ted Williams got on base an average of 2.05 times per game. Ichiro is at 1.49. Shoot, Altuve is at 1.54.

Ichiro is 517th all time in OBP behind the likes of Mark Texiera and Dexter Fowler.

He is 75th all time in AVG.

 

BB/K is an efficiency stat. Part of the reason a guy like Ichiro gets plenty hits is because he refuses to walk and/or take pitches, which is not a redeeming quality for a leadoff guy. It's pretty weak for a slap hitter to have almost double K's than walks. Anyone would be hard-pressed to find a player in history with a good ratio who wasn't a contact guy and/or a good hitter.

 

And to think, Altuve was seen by many as a place holder until Delino DeShields was ready to take over 2nd base on the big league club. Talk about Altuve stamping his hold onto the 2nd base for the next 10 years.

I know Altuve is under contract. But should the Astros feel a little guilty he is paid so much less for the MVP level of production he's producing.

 

He was an *******, but he was the Greatest:

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He'd win MVP if we somehow made the playoffs. He'll still have a chance if we miss, but he's the prohibitive favorite if he make it.

 

IMO, Williams was the greatest hitter ever. You could throw some others into the mix, but Ichiro, give me a freakin' break. Rose is the all-time hit leader, and I don't think anyone has said he's the greatest hitter of all-time.

 

All I know is that the only guy close to hitting .400 in the modern era was Tony Gwynn (1994).

The other thing I know is that obviously hitting .400 when williams did it was much easier than it was when Gwynn hit .394.

Trying to compare eras with stats is very sketchy. Ichiro is a beast, by the way. Regardless of where you wanna rank him as a hitter.

 

I'm rooting for him and he is the front runner IMO, but I would not be overly shocked or upset if Betts were to win it. He is having an insane year as well.

Funny how the two smallest dudes in the league are the front runners.

 

He said it about Pete Rose, but I think this Mickey Mantle quote would apply to Suzuki as well: "If I'd spent my career hitting singles like Pete Rose, I'd have worn a dress."

 

In an era of continual defensive shifts, unlike any of the former greats have ever seen, we are witnessing something truly magical, right here at home.

 

1994 was a strange year. A number of players had career years, including Jeff Bagwell.

 

Also in an era of advanced scouting and technology unlike any of the former greats have seen. Data is used today like never used before. That said, now that he doesn't chase like he did in the past, Altuve has virtually no weaknesses and pitchers are clueless onto how to pitch him even with all this data.