if the game is checkers or bingo tho...

i've been wondering when you were gonna reappear.  glad you did, too.

A-Rod is going to break it again.  if he stays healthy.

Good to see you back as well.

I'm tired of seeing players "break it" years out. We need to give them the crown WHEN they get it, not before.

And there's another issue that galls me. Bonds is actually NOT the homerun king, just the AMERICAN homerun king. Saduharo Oh played at the highest level at which he was allowed (much as the blacks in the Negro leagues), only it wasn't MLB restricting his playing at a higher level, it was Japan, and he clubbed 868.

Kinda like how Ichiro will hit his 3,000th professional hit next year at the tender age of 35, while the record books will only credit him with about 1700.

Steroid issues not withstanding, there are other reasons why players continue to club dingers long after other sluggers have faded. The main ones, in my opinion, are conditioning and better sports medicine.

Ken Griffey Junior, for instance, is approaching his 600th homerun, and has a mathematical chance to become only the 4th player to reach 700, again, using the proverbial "if". A generation ago, Ken Griffey Junior would be retired and preparing for enshrinement in the Hall after the injuries that sidelined him for the better part of four seasons. Griffey's name has never even been remotely linked with steroids, and in our current media witch hunt, I'm sure if he had even smelled the Binaca on a steroid user's breath, they'd have been quick to accuse.

I understand the objection, but then the arguement goes that with the restrictions (both wrong), they did not play against the caliber of players that major leaguers do.

But closer to your point - the howls that will go up when a non-American goes for such a record (in MLB) will make this incident seem like a polite discussion.

For years, we were told that Japan league baseball was equivalent to US AA. We judged this by the scant few international games we played against them, but I believe it was an inaccurate assessment. Since Ichiro made the jump to the majors, he has not failed to hit 200 hits in a single season thus far, and is on track to do it again. I can think of very few players (maybe Tony Gwynn or Pete Rose) who've accomplished a run of six straight 200 hit seasons, a mark that, in my mind, is far more impressive than Sosa's 3 straight 60 homerun seasons.

When (not if) Ichiro is enshrined in the Hall, he should be enshrined with his MLB hits total mentioned, and his 1278 Japan league hits mentioned as well. And IF he surpasses Rose's record in the leagues combined, the record should be acknowledged, albeit along with the mention that it came in separate professional leagues.

Nice to know I'm still remembered.

"A generation ago, Ken Griffey Junior would be retired and preparing for enshrinement in the Hall after the injuries that sidelined him for the better part of four seasons." How very true such as DiMag, Mantle, Campanella, Reiser.... I suspect, eventually bb stats will be sorted by era; for, there's no way one can weigh 714 or 60 in the 20s to 757, 73 in this new century.

Ichiro[by the way, what's wrong with his last name?] is from the old school a smart bat with eyes. After all, someone has to be on base for the big guys to get all the glory.    

My understanding is that in Japan, they use the player's first name, not their last, and Ichiro has continued the tradition in the US.

Thanks for the info. He sure is a great slap hitter.