Kuzul

Felix Hernandez is your 2010 American League Cy Young Award winner…if only it were that easy.

In reality, it should be that easy.

After going eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out five, Hernandez got the all-important erroneous stat. 

The stat that for some reason voters and baseball fans feel is nerdy to overlook.

Hernandez got the win and is now 13-12. Happy?

Oh, he also has the best ERA (2.27), most quality starts (30), most innings pitched (249.2), most strikeouts (232), and lowest batting average against (.212) in the American League. He is second in WHIP (1.06) to Cliff Lee, not CC Sabathia or David Price.

Sabathia and Price were also in action Tuesday.

Sabathia went 8.1 innings, giving up one earned run on three hits and two walks while striking out eight.

He too picked up another win, pushing his record to 21-7. Wins is the only category Sabathia leads the AL in.

Sabathia now has a 3.18 ERA with 26 quality starts, 237.2 innings pitched, 197 strikeouts, a 1.19 WHIP, and a .239 batting average against.

Impressive numbers, but they do not match Hernandez.

Price went eight shutout innings, giving up six hits, zero walks, and striking out eight, and picked up a win to move to 19-6. Price does not lead the AL in any pitching category. 

He has a 2.73 ERA, 25 quality starts, 207.2 innings pitched, 187 strikeouts, a 1.20 WHIP, and a .222 batting average against.

Also impressive, but they do not match Hernandez.

Baseball is a bunch of individuals playing a team sport. All you can control in the field, at the plate, or on the mound is what you do.

Luck occurs here and there, but after so many games and so many innings, luck tends to run out and at the very least things even out.

If your lineup is weak around you, then you will not score runs or have a high number of RBI, so we look at your on-base percentage, slugging percentage, and OPS to see your value.

If your team does not score for you or play defense behind you while you’re on the mound, then we look at strikeouts to see how often you take your defense out of the equation and ERA and WHIP to see how often you put your weak offensive team in position to win.

One stat that is based on the sum of a team’s parts is wins, and that stat generally earns a World Series championship, but basing an individual award on it is completely and ridiculously unfair.

A Cy Young Award is not a Most Valuable Player Award where we can argue the definition of “value.” The Cy Young Award is simply for the best pitcher.

Voters got it correct last year, giving the Cy Young to Zack Greinke with an all-time AL Cy Young-low 16 wins, and in the National League Tim Lincecum won it with a 15-7 record.

Hernandez’s offense has supplied him with zero runs while he was on the mound in seven of his last 14 starts, and he has pitched into the seventh inning in a team-record 25 consecutive starts.

I think he has done all he can to win for the Seattle Mariners.

Anyone with eyes can see Hernandez has the best pitching numbers. Sabathia and Price have the better team stat, so they were awarded with the playoffs.

The Cy Young, however, should clearly be awarded to Hernandez.

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Not many pitchers with a 12-12 record would ever make a compelling case to win a Cy Young Award. But Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners not only has a legitimate case, he is the most deserving to win in the American League.

Forget the 12-12 record for now. Hernandez’s numbers are tremendous. His 2.31 earned run average is currently second in major league baseball by a single point and is nearly a full run lower than CC Sabathia, who has eight more wins and is also one of the favorites for the Cy Young.

His 227 strikeouts are also second in baseball. He is tied with Roy Halladay with the most innings pitched with 241.2. He also leads baseball in quality starts and start percentage. 

Hernandez also pitches for a team with the second fewest wins in baseball as the Mariners currently sit 28 games out of first place at 59-96.

In his 12 losses, he has received a grand total of seven runs of support. The Mariners have scored won or fewer runs in 10 of 33 starts, and two or fewer runs 15 times and have not scored a run in seven of his last 13 starts.

And finally, and not surprisingly, he has the fewest run support in the American League with 3.09 runs per start. And while Sabathia pitches for the best offense in baseball, Hernandez pitches for the worst.

His support neutral win-loss of 21-12 is the best in MLB. Now would Sabathia have nearly as good of a record that he does if he pitched for the Mariners? 

Absolutely not.

The bottom line is that wins are not the only statistic to judge a pitcher by. And if you take away King Felix’s win-loss record, he would be a shoo-in to win the AL Cy Young. But he should be one anyways.

If Felix Hernandez does not win the American League Cy Young, it will be an absolute shame. 

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The list of things that went right with the 2010 Seattle Mariners season starts and ends with Felix Hernandez.

King Felix should be the favorite for the Cy Young after a stellar season that includes a 2.31 ERA (second in baseball), a 1.06 WHIP (tied for fourth in baseball), and 227 strikeouts (second in baseball). 

Ichiro Suzuki is pretty good too, recording his 10th straight 200-hit season early last week.

After that, however, the Mariners roster is a collection of misfits, underachievers, over-the-hill veterans, and colossal busts. 

Felix Hernandez is one of baseball’s best pitchers. But as that 12-12 record shows, he can’t do it alone.

Here are 10 offseason moves Seattle GM Jack Zduriencik should make to get Felix some help and put the Mariners back into the playoff race.

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Ichiro Suzuki just keeps hitting and hitting and hitting.

No matter the year, you can bank on the New York Yankees having a winning record, Albert Pujols hitting 30 plus HR’s, and Ichiro getting 200 hits.

With two hits on Thursday, Ichiro became the first player in major league history to collect 200 hits in 10 straight seasons. He now is tied with Pete Rose for the most 200-hit seasons in baseball history.

Rose’s 200-hit seasons were spaced out over 15 years, which makes Ichiro’s accomplishments all the more impressive. Ichiro now has 2,230 hits in 10 seasons. Now the question remains: Is Ichiro a first-ballot Hall of Famer?

The answer is 100 percent yes.

When I first saw Ichiro hit back in the spring of 2001, I though there was no chance he would have the same success in the major leagues as he did in Japan. Up until that point, I never saw a hitter try to run and hit the ball at the same time.

Sure, it’s common in softball, but in baseball trying to hit a 85 mph slider? No way. Boy, was I dead wrong.

Ichiro is fascinating and probably the most unique hitter in the history of the game. The way he can get a running start, keep his hands back, and hit an outside fastball going 95 mph almost defies logic.

What is even more amazing about Ichiro is that if you have ever watched him in batting practice, he can hit the ball as far as anyone. If he wanted to change his game completely, he probably could hit 20 HR’s a year. That just tells you what kind of hitter he is.

Ichiro is easily in the top five of the best pure hitters that I have ever seen (last 25 years). He is right up there with Tony Gwynn, Wade Boggs, Edgar Martinez, and Paul Molitor.

Ichiro is unquestionably a first-ballot Hall of Famer. The only question that remains is when it is all said and done, is Ichiro the greatest hitter of all time?

You can follow The Ghost of Moonlight Graham on Twitter @ theghostofmlg

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New York Yankees fans have been wanting ace C.C. Sabathia to win this year’s Cy Young Award. After every single okay start, there were articles stating that C.C. had locked-up the most prestigious pitching award in Major League Baseball.

Well, there’s a phenom that has been pitching one of the best pitching seasons over the past couple of years, and it’s Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners.

I have no idea why people even think why anyone else deserves the American League Cy Young Award.

The first stat most people look at with pitchers are the W-L record. Hernandez has a record of 12-12, exactly at .500 win percentage.

But look at his ERA: an ERA of 2.31. He has already started 33 games, and looks to finish a fully healthy season in his next start.

Another stat that makes the ERA unbelievable is that he has thrown 241.2 innings.

His strikeouts line up at a league-leading 227.

His whip is at 1.063.

His walks allowed amount is only 68 compared to 227 strikeouts.

Isn’t is time for baseball fans to wake up and see that this great pitcher for an above-average team should win the Cy Young?

Who wouldn’t give Hernandez a first place vote?

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Felix Hernandez is having a season to remember.

The Cy Young Award is hardly a gimme in Major League Baseball.

Reserved for what is supposed to be the best pitcher in his respective league that year, the pinnacle of a season’s pitching achievements sometimes is not given to truly the top thrower.

Though his record may not portray Hernandez’s position among the best, the Seattle Mariners unquestionably boast a top candidate for this year’s AL Cy Young.

Among the competition are Boston’s Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester, New York’s CC Sabathia, Tampa Bay’s David Price, Oakland’s Trevor Cahill, and LA’s Jared Weaver.

But none other than King Felix is the most deserving.

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The shortstop position is one that the Mariners have been trying to patch since Alex Rodriguez left Seattle following the 2000 season.

They used Carlos Guillen there in 2001, but his relationship with then-ace Freddy Garcia appeared to be damaging to the pitcher in the eyes of the front office, and he was sent packing to Detroit in 2003.

They signed Rich Aurilia in 2004; he was supposed to be the answer after coming off of a handful of productive seasons in San Francisco, but flamed out quickly posting a .641 OPS in 292 plate appearances with Seattle and was traded to the Padres later that season.

Then in 2005, the Mariners began what would be a tumultuous Mariners career for Yuniesky Betancourt. Betancourt showed some impressive skills with his glove, making some very difficult plays on occasion but seemed to struggle very frequently with routine plays and had major lapses in concentration. According to UZR/150, Betancourt’s defensive production began at about league average and steadily declined until he was traded in 2009.

After his departure, Betancourt’s then-vacated position was filled by Ronny Cedeno. Later, Cedeno would be traded to the Pirates in a trade that would bring Jack Wilson to Seattle, and he and Josh Wilson would combine to finish the season at shortstop.

This year, the Mariners boasted the latter duo as their answer at the shortstop position. They assumed they’d need the former Wilson, Josh, because Jack was injury prone.

Knowing that, they’d signed Jack to a two-year, $10 million extension. They figured that Jack’s elite defense, while missing some games, combined with Josh’s near-average defense at short to fill in the gaps was worth the money.

Jack’s season went about as poorly as it could have: He posted a wRC+ of 62, with a -2.8 UZR/150 at shortstop in 61 games; he battled a hamstring injury earlier in the season, an ailment he’s dealt with throughout his career, but ultimately ended his season after fracturing his fifth metacarpal after “slipping in the shower.”

Josh hasn’t been much better, just healthier. In 101 games, he’s had a wRC+ of 72 and a UZR/150 of 5.0 at shortstop this season. He’s been worth a half win above replacement, riding strongly on the positional adjustment for shortstops.

So going into 2011, the Mariners will have a shortstop making $5 million (Jack) who will have missed almost half of the games his teams have played in the last three seasons, and a shortstop (Josh) who has played his career, which has totaled 880 plate appearances to this point, at a level slightly below replacement level.

The Mariners likely can’t trade Jack, as his value hasn’t matched his salary since 2007, and he’s coming off of an injury shortened season.

So while the Mariners could easily upgrade over Jack offensively, it may not be cost-effective to do so via free agency.

If Wilson would have qualified for the batting title this year, he’d have been the shortstop with the second-lowest wOBA in all of baseball (ahead of only Cesar Izturis). Josh would rank ahead of only Izturis and Alcides Escobar.

A few months ago, it looked like J.J. Hardy was almost sure to be non-tendered by the Minnesota Twins. After coming over to the Twins in an offseason trade, and eventually signing a $5.1 million pact for 2010, avoiding arbitration, Hardy struggled to start the 2010 season. He wRC+’s of 78, 64, and -34 in the first three months of the season (only four games in June).

However, in part due to a regression to mean of Hardy’s BABIP and a shift in his batted ball profile, Hardy came back big in July, posting a wRC+ of 142. He stumbled a little in August, posting an 85 wRC+, but has responded with a 126 wRC+ in September so far.

Combined with a league transition, it’s easy to rationalize that this recent version of Hardy is a fixed version, and that the improvement should carry over into 2011.

Unfortunately for the Mariners, that greatly decreases the chances that he’ll be available in free agency this offseason.

Apart from Derek Jeter, who will likely remain with the Yankees, the rest of the free agent class of shortstops seem to possess their own set of fatal flaws: be they offensive production, poor defense, or age.

So unless the team takes a look at Felipe Lopez, who is likely best equipped defensively to play either second or third base but would be a valuable bat to occasionally plug in at shortstop, they may be best off attempting to solve their shortstop woes either internally or with unproven, undervalued prospects from somebody else’s farm system.

The team presently has Nick Franklin, who will rank very highly on prospect lists next year, who is a switch-hitting (probably eventually lefty only) shortstop who was drafted, at least in part, because of his defensive ability. Franklin absolutely torched the Midwest League this season to the tune of a .283/.354/.486 slash line.

He’ll be only 20 years old next year though, and A ball to the bigs is a pretty big jump. Look for Franklin to start the year in AA or AAA next year.

Carlos Triunfel has long been among Seattle’s top prospects. However, a transition to second or third base is likely for the formerly highly-touted prospect, and his expected power has never materialized into production.

While a hot spring and a few hot games for Matt Tuiasosopo have made some believe that he should be receiving more playing time, the reality is that Tuiasosopo simply isn’t a shortstop. While two errors in 28 innings at shortstop in the pros certainly hurt Tuiasosopo’s UZR rating, a -23.3 is hardly different than what one could expect from the shortstop turned utility man.

The Tacoma Rainiers had a revolving door at shortstop this season, and without a valid option close to the majors, the Mariners may need to look outside the organization to fill the position, be it free agency or via trade.

Other Fixing the 2011 Seattle Mariners profiles

Ted Lilly

Ramon Hernandez

Michael Saunders

Colby Rasmus

Adam Dunn

Chone Figgins

Dustin Ackley

Felipe Lopez

Willy Aybar

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

A lot of noise has been made in the sabermetrics community stating that Felix Hernandez should win the 2010 Cy Young Award.

While most of the arguments are rational and valid, they tend to be shortsighted, comparing King Felix to only CC Sabathia.

Advanced metrics and statistical analysis show that while Felix has won only 12 games while losing 11, he’s actually pitched much better than Sabathia this season.

Felix boasts strikeout rates, walk rates, home run rates, ground ball rates, and accumulated Wins Above Replacement (WAR) that are all superior to that of Sabathia.

Each has been a dependable workhorse, pitching well over 200 innings this season. However, writer perception, combined with a Zack Greinke victory in award voting last year, which he won out from under Felix Hernandez, has spawned a pretty heated debate, where perhaps some people who were chanting Felix’s name last year are now again in his corner, but for completely opposite reasons.

However, the season that Greinke had last year was very special by all measures. His nine WAR were the best by a pitcher since Pedro Martinez’s 10.1 WAR season in 2000, a season often considered to be the most impressive by any pitcher ever considering the hitting environment in which it was pitched.

Greinke posted a FIP of 2.33 and an ERA of 2.16 on a Royals team that played pretty bad defense. He won 16 games while losing only eight and led the league in strikeouts. So while the league eschewed three wins for each of Hernandez, Justin Verlander, and Sabathia, they didn’t completely diverge from accumulation statistics or conventional metrics.

The reality is that while once again Felix has been impressive, even more impressive than his amazing 2009 season, he still falls to second-best in terms of peripheral statistics, especially when combined with conventional measures.

R.J. Anderson of FanGraphs wrote about the guy that should truly win, Francisco Liriano.

Liriano is 14-7 with a 3.28 ERA and 189 strikeouts in 178.1 innings. While Felix tops all of those numbers in terms of total count, Liriano has the King beat in most rate stats. Liriano has more strikeouts per nine innings pitched, a lower FIP, a higher ground-ball rate, and has given up only four home runs this season, good for 0.20 per nine innings.

Most impressively, however, is that Liriano has managed to accumulate 6.3 WAR in about 55 fewer innings than it has taken Hernandez to accumulate 6.1. Liriano has four less starts and is averaging close to an inning less per start, but when he’s been on the mound, he’s been significantly more effective.

That’s not to take away from Hernandez, who has had yet another tremendous year, but if he’s given the Cy Young Award, it will truly be a multi-year award, as once again Felix has been the second-best pitcher in the American League by most contemporary measures, as well as the most traditional.

As much as Sabathia’s 20 wins (and counting) will help his case with the most dusty, closed-minded voters, Liriano may be hurt by not reaching a similar plateau. David Cone is the only starting pitcher to win the American League Cy Young Award without pitching at least 200 innings, which he did in the strike-shortened 1994 season.

The lowest inning count for a full-season starting pitcher American League Cy Young Award winner was 213.1, done by Pedro Martinez in 1999. He also won the award with 217 innings in 2000. Each of those seasons he won the award unanimously after posting two of the best modern-era pitching seasons ever.

ZiPS projects that Liriano will receive two more starts (and a relief appearance) before the end of the season for only 15 innings. That would put him at 193 innings for the season, a full 20 innings behind Pedro Martinez’s 1999 mark.

But while a low inning count may hurt Liriano, it seems like a much easier argument to make. While several closers have won the award, there have been a couple of National League winners to win the award, even pre-sabermetrics, without 200 innings or a recorded save.

In 1981, another strike-shortened season, Fernando Valenzuela won the Cy Young Award with 192.1 innings pitched in a season where the Dodgers played only 110 games.

1984 may be the best argument, however, for Liriano’s candidacy in 2010. In a full season, Rick Sutcliffe pitched only 20 games for 150.1 innings. He won the award unanimously but also boasted a 16-1 record. Sutcliffe benefitted from an ERA before advanced statistical analysis, as his 10th-place ranking in WAR that season (3.7 WAR) would hardly fly in 2010.

Either way, the reality is that Sabathia will probably win, but if he doesn’t, Liriano should be the guy, as he better fulfills the combined criteria of both traditional and contemporary metrics.

Check out more articles about Seattle sports at North and South of Royal Brougham.

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The Mariners need a utility infielder that can play both second and third base, and at a minimal price. Dustin Ackley will likely make his debut in mid-June in order to avoid becoming a Super Two player, and until then, somebody will have to hold his place at second base.

Earlier in the week, we looked at Felipe Lopez. Lopez has been an average hitter for his career, playing second and third base to combine with his average defense. As a bonus, he’s a career league average hitter who can play shortstop, even if not very well.

Willy Aybar is a bit different. While Lopez has no real elite offensive skill or potential, Aybar’s career has been littered with rumors of potential. Potential that has unfulfilled.

The biggest problem facing the Mariners’ chances of acquiring Aybar? He’s not scheduled for free agency for two more seasons. Also, Aybar plays for the Tampa Bay Rays, who aren’t known for trading their pre-free agency players very often.

So how could the Mariners get their hands on Aybar?

MLB Trade Rumors recently profiled Aybar as a non-tender candidate. The reason isn’t solely based on Aybar’s performance, or a decreased glimmer on his potential star, but rather that in what seems like a perpetual state, the Rays are looking to cut costs going into the 2011 season.

If the Rays decline the $2.2 million option that Aybar has going into next season, coming off of a two-year contract Aybar signed going into the 2009 season as to avoid arbitration, they stand to save $1.925 million when combined with a $275,000 bonus.

The Rays also have several players: Ben Zobrist, Reid Brignac, Jason Bartlett, and Sean Rodriguez, who can play multiple positions in the infield who are either on guaranteed contracts or still in their pre-arbitration years and may be able to produce both in the field and at the plate at a higher level than Aybar.

So while Tampa Bay retaining Aybar would likely make this article moot, there’s a reasonable chance that the Mariners will have a shot at Aybar at a low price tag, and one that includes no exchanging prospects.

But what does Aybar offer the Mariners?

A lot like Felipe Lopez, Aybar’s career has produced league-average production at the plate. He is a switch hitter, who like Lopez, has performed better from the right-handed batter’s box than the left.

Perhaps the only downside of Aybar’s prospects in Seattle compared to Lopez is that Aybar has played most of his career at third base. While he’s played upwards of 300 plus innings at both second and first base, those are hardly large enough sample sizes to make a judgement on his defense.

However, if the team opts to keep Chone Figgins at second base, at least until Ackley is called up, Aybar offers an interestingly high upside bat at third base, while his -1.6 UZR/150 at third isn’t a huge deviation from the solid defense that Jose Lopez has played this year.

So why would Tampa Bay cut loose a guy with the potential to contribute in 2011?

Like all non-tender candidates, Aybar has some issues. After entering the majors as a guy who made a lot of contact and didn’t swing at a ton of pitches outside the strike zone, Aybar has begun to regress.

With three straight years of increased strikeout rates, including a career high 23.4 percent so far in 2010, Aybar has seen his wRC+ at 96, 100, and 85 in the past three respective seasons. While an 85 wRC+ falls well ahead of Jose Lopez 65 wRC+ for 2010, it also ranks ahead of Lopez career wRC+ (84).

So at Aybar’s absolute worst, he equals Jose Lopez’s career average.

But Lopez has—however misguidedly—received over 3,500 plate appearances in the majors. By contrast, Aybar will have less than 1,500 when the 2010 season ends.

It’s basically impossible to quantify a player’s “rhythm” in a given season. When players are or aren’t receiving consistent playing time, the sample sets are so small typically on one side that it is hard to make an accurate comparison to the other.

However, here’s a breakdown of how Aybar performs when facing starting pitchers multiple times in one game.

No. 1—.628 OPS

No. 2—.736 OPS

No. 3—.894 OPS

And in his first appearance against relief pitchers, he’s posted a .754 OPS.

How that translates into a full season’s work, since Aybar has never seen one, is hard to project. However, the chances are the price will be right if Aybar is made available to the Mariners.

Following the 2008 season, the Houston Astros non-tendered Ty Wigginton. Wigginton signed a two-year, $6 million contract with the Baltimore Orioles. That would be a really ugly contract for the Mariners to sign Aybar to, but Wigginton was a much better free agent.

He’d posted a 129 wRC+ in the year before being non-tendered, and that was the fourth straight season he’d posted a wRC+ over 100, while playing first base, second base, third base, and both corner outfield positions.

Kelly Johnson was non-tendered after posting an 86 wRC+ and playing a league-average second base. Johnson signed a one year, $2.35 million deal with the Diamondbacks. But Johnson had been worth 5.9 wins in the two seasons prior to his ugly 2009.

A wrist injury had appeared to sap his power, but he’d produced well in about 1,900 plate appearances in the bigs.

Perhaps the best example that parallels Aybar’s scenario is his one-time teammate Jonny Gomes. Gomes was once the owner of a shiny 2.5 WAR season in 407 plate appearances with the 2005 Rays.

He’d struggled to return to that mark, and after a season where he posted an 83 wRC+ in 2008, he was non-tendered by the club after less than 1,500 plate appearances. He’d go on to sign a minor league contract with the Cincinnati Reds.

That season, 2009, he’d post a 126 wRC+ and 10.2 RAR in only 314 plate appearances. His advanced stats were good, but his 20 home runs and .274 ISO in such a short time should have been attractive to many ballclubs.

Instead, Gomes would sign a contract work $800,000 with a favorable $1.75 million club option for 2011.

It’s impossible to tell how Aybar would react to his first season with over 400 plate appearances. However, if the price is right and Aybar is successful, he could be Jack Zduriencik’s 2011 version of Russell Branyan.

Other Fixing the 2011 Seattle Mariners profiles

Ted Lilly

Ramon Hernandez

Michael Saunders

Colby Rasmus

Adam Dunn

Chone Figgins

Dustin Ackley

Felipe Lopez

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

You don’t have to be a fan of the Seattle Mariners to be a fan of Ichiro Suzuki. After all, Ichiro is approaching his record tenth 200-hit season, and also his 10th season leading the league in singles. No one else has more than four.

He’s even been known to toss out the occasional funny quote.

“Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me,” he said. “I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength. Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.”

However, the appeal of Ichiro, and of the infield hit, has not been universally felt. Some, including former teammates, have called Ichiro “selfish.” After all, he’s been known to reach out of the zone for plenty of pitches, slapping them the other way for infield singles.

So, is Ichiro’s slap-and-dash style really a matter of selfishness, or has he simply found a new way to fuel an offense?

First, the basic stats.

Ichiro has done some pretty unorthodox stuff. Just look at his BABIP on different types of batted balls:

Ground Balls: .305 (League Average: .242)

Fly Balls: .119 (.139)

Line Drives: .705 (.720)

Bunts: .663 (.441)

By beating out an extreme number of base hits and bunts, Ichiro more than makes up for his average on line drives (probably a slight aberration) and fly balls (due to his aversion from power).

He also bucks the set in stone trend of looking for a pitch right down the heart of the plate. Instead, he waits for a pitch that may be a good foot out of the zone, and slaps it down the third base line. By the time the third baseman reaches the ball, the speedy Ichiro is already two-thirds of the way to first.

So, it’s obvious that Ichiro has been successful at something very few, if any, have ever really succeeded at before.

But the question remains, is his style of play selfish?

It’s not a stupid question.

When he was chasing George Sisler’s single-season hit record in 2004, he laid down a bunt with man on second and two out, with the Mariners trailing late. He was credited with a single, but the runner did not score. With Ichiro being the best contact hitter on the team (and arguably the best in baseball), the team needed him to drive in the run.

Apparently, there are also complaints that Ichiro doesn’t reach for balls out of his defensive zone for fear that he will get injured and prevent him from piling up hits.

Poppycock, I say.

After all, any notion of Ichiro’s defense being anything other than amazing is simply preposterous.

For instance, Ichiro is 12th in Zone Runs among right fielders, and in the top 30 all time. So that claim can be dismissed.

As for Ichiro’s play to finish the 2004 season, when he was laying down every sort of bunt and infield hit to reach the all-time record, can anyone tell me they wouldn’t do the same thing?

Playing for a last-place team that had no shot at the playoffs, going for one of baseball’s most famous records is much more historically relevant than trying for a few more wins down the stretch.

In fact, Ichiro’s “selfishness” probably helped the Mariners, as it gave fans a reason to come to the ballpark. Despite losing 99 games, the Mariners drew 2,940,731 fans in ’04, third in the league. Without Ichiro’s chase at the record, less fans turn out for Seattle games, which in turn means less profit for the Mariners.

There’s a pretty good possibility that Mariners management encouraged Ichiro to sacrifice wins for the record’s sake.

So, to the critics who question Ichiro’s ethic, take a step back and look at the facts. Ichiro is a revolutionary. Like most revolutionaries, he will not be fully appreciated until his war on slugging is won.

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com