Hey Chop.
I hope they shut up about the validity of Ichiro's hits over in Hapeville. Do they even throw overhand in that league? We know a few do based on guys who have come over here. But I get the feeling that some of the pitchers are more like mid-range NCAA pitchers.
Not the most unbreakable record in history.
I could see this being beat one day.
If Ichiro would have played his entire career in MLB he would be getting real close right now.
Cy Youngs 511 and Cal Ripken Jr will never get touched.
I don't even think anyone will ever get to 40% of Ripken's total ever again.
Right now Ichiro has 2805 MLB hits.
Lets go ahead and say he will end his career with 3000.
He played 8 prime years in Japan.
If he would have played those 8 years in MLB instead averaging just 200 per year which is way below his average during his prime he would have 4600 hits shattering Pete Rose.
If you go above 200 hits per year during his prime and give him closer to what he really averaged he would be getting close to 5000 hits.
He would have blown away pete rose before he turned 35. Pete Rose retired when he was 46
Most career no-hitters at 7 by the Express I don't think will ever be broken. Mofome posted thinking Strasburg was going to come close, I backed into a lot of math that basically all but proved it would be nearly impossible to get to that number given how many complete games a pitcher would need to throw, how many IP/year, GS/year, CG/year, pitch counts, etc.
Also most career shutouts. Walter Johnson had 110. Clayton Kershaw has 9 in seven years. Averaging 5 shutouts a year over 22 seasons is damn near impossible.
Also I disagree about the irrelvancy of Cal's record (perhaps biased as an O's fan) but anyone who's played a sport competitively has probably not played 500 consecutive games let alone 2600+. The story about him tearing up his torso and still head-first sliding into 3rd and ripping out his stitches is an awesome one. I don't care if he wasn't the greatest ball player ever, you don't tweak an ankle or pull a hammy once and sit out? Reason people think this guy was one of the saviors of baseball back in the day.
At what age did Ichiro start playing in Japan. 11 years old? Or as soon as he could hit the pitching...... same thing.