Alex Rodriguez just decided / was coaxed into / may have been held and gunpoint and forced to retire from baseball this upcoming Friday. On that very same day, Ichiro Suzuki got his 3,000th hit. These are two very different players, who both lived in and highlighted very different parts of baseball's last 20 years. It is too easy to say that A-Rod represents all that is bad and Ichiro all that is good. In fact, at various points in their histories it was the opposite that rang true. At the end, as they both reached career milestones on the same day, their presence, while never truly connected, should always be remembered as being catalysts for so much baseball debate.
The only link you can draw between the two comes from the monumental event that changed the way we viewed A-Rod: him signing with Texas for $252 MM over 10 years and leaving Seattle ahead of teh 2001 season. This was the third straight offseason that the Mariners saw a Hall of Fame level player depart town. If you accept A-Rod's accomplishments at face value, the Mariners, in successive offseasons, lost three of the 50 best players in the history of the game (Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez), and of course as has been told many times, responded by winning 118 games. And of course, the best player on that record breaking, 118-win team: Ichiro Suzuki.
That was his first year in the US, a year that he would hit .350, collect 240 hits, and win both AL Rookie of the Year and MVP. Ichiro was the first position player from Japan to play in the MLB, and not only did he maintain his ridiculous performance level that he showed in the Japanese Nippon League, he upped it. He probably wasn't the best player in the AL - though most of the alternatives were probably on steroids - but the narrative wrote itself. The legend of Ichiro started in 2001, and hasn't stopped since, but there have been twists and turns.
Ichiro was often heralded as a throwback player. He exelled at the things old-school baseball men started to really care about in the early-2000's when baseball was being transformed into a homer-happy, OPS-loving world. He hit for average, and hit ground ball singles. A lot of them. He just hit; he didn't draw walks, or try to hit home runs. He just got on base slapping singles into every conceivable area. Of course, this made the stat-heads often consider him a wholly overrated player in the early to mid 00's. The offensive value of a player who could hit .330 every year, but only get on base at a .360 clip and slug below .500 was not all that high.
Of course, the stat heads then grew up, they learned how to correctly assess defense and baserunning and these other areas that Ichiro was great at, and realized, retrospectively, he was one of the 5 to 10 best players in the AL year in and year out throughout his 'peak' years. Of course, by the time they realized this the current Ichiro had regressed to a player who could not hit .300 and was not all that good anymore.
In the end, we all learned to respect and love the facets of Ichiro's game that he was brilliant in, but also the guy himself. He was quirky, introspective, logical, brilliant. Despite knowing English well (and also knowing enough Spanish to taunt and play with Latin players on the bases), Ichiro maintained a translator in his interviews. Not because he was shy of speaking English, but because he could answer questions better, and with more thought and meaning, in Japanese. His answers to questions on American baseball and culture are illuminating of a true genius. Ichiro, more than anyone, would have loved Alex Rodriguez, a man who loved baseball a little too much.
Alex Rodriguez was, in some ways, the opposite of Ichiro. Statheads loved him from the start, for being a transcendentally great player from the time he was 19, to playing great shortstop, to hitting better than any shortstop ever had. Alex Rodriguez was a top-5 player in baseball for a good 15 years straight. Other than playing baseball, and I guess escaping failing drug test, Alex Rodriguez couldn't really do anything else.
He was a bit narcassistic, but even worse was nowhere near charming enough to get away with it (see: Bryant, Kobe, for somehow who often was). He was awkward and robotic at times, very much a US version of Cristiano Ronaldo. And, worst of all, he had the gall to accept a ridiculous amount of money from Texas in 2001. Alex Rodriguez's contract was astounding. So much so it is still the 3rd largest contract ever given out in US sports, beaten only by his own next contract ($275 MM), and Giancarlo Stanton's contract ($325 MM) which comes with a massive out clause and likely won't approach that in total compensation. Sportswriters and old-school baseball guys lost their minds over this.
In retrospect, not only was it ridiculous to be upset at someone at taking a lot of money, this was probably the best giant contract baseball ever handed out. A-Rod was just entering his Year 25 season, and played under that contract for 7 years (before opting out and signing the next 10-year deal after the 2007 season). In that time, he averaged a .304/.400/.541 slash line, with 329 HRs and 908 RBIs, winning three MVP awards, three gold gloves, and generally being awesome. He racked up 56.3 WAR in that time as well. This was basically as good a return as you can get on a mega-contract.
Of course, all of this leaves out the elephant in the room of his steroid use. A-Rod admitted it happened. The world knows it happened. The world also knows a lot of people were on steroids and didn't come close to matching A-Rod's accomplishments, and also that no one has been punished more for it. Despite never failing a test, and despite MLB having set guidelines for steroid suspensions, the MLB gave him a 200-game suspension, kicking him out for some of 2013 and the entire 2014 season. This was a ruthless justice system punishing a guy more than really what was necessary. If anyone paid their price, it was A-Rod.
Alex Rodriguez's strange snap retirement is a sad coda for one of the generations best players, especially when it somewhat overshadowed another of this era's best players signature achievement. The fact that Ichiro reached 3,000 hits in the US is insane, since when he turned 27, he had a grand total of zero. Ichiro basically had to average 200 hits a year for 15 seasons, and he did it. A-Rod also reached 3,000 hits (he was the most recent player to do so), but that will be the tenth or twentieth item on A-Rod's career resume.
These two players defined the extremes of the last 15-20 years. Baseball is great because two players could be so different, and attack their job in such different ways, yet still be about as valuable as each other and succeed to similar degrees (admittedly, A-Rod was a far better player). Ichiro represented one of my favorite aspects of baseball, the fact that the playoffs doesn't matter when it comes into debating who was great as Ichiro of course never played in a playoff game after hsi rookie season. Of course, A-Rod shows that it still did for one guy as his notable playoff failures probably had more to do with his negative approval rating in New York than his steroid conviction. Ichiro represented the increasing influence of the Japanese game. A-Rod the lasting immersion of the latin game. Both players are true greats, even if they did it in such different ways.
The only link you can draw between the two comes from the monumental event that changed the way we viewed A-Rod: him signing with Texas for $252 MM over 10 years and leaving Seattle ahead of teh 2001 season. This was the third straight offseason that the Mariners saw a Hall of Fame level player depart town. If you accept A-Rod's accomplishments at face value, the Mariners, in successive offseasons, lost three of the 50 best players in the history of the game (Randy Johnson, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez), and of course as has been told many times, responded by winning 118 games. And of course, the best player on that record breaking, 118-win team: Ichiro Suzuki.
That was his first year in the US, a year that he would hit .350, collect 240 hits, and win both AL Rookie of the Year and MVP. Ichiro was the first position player from Japan to play in the MLB, and not only did he maintain his ridiculous performance level that he showed in the Japanese Nippon League, he upped it. He probably wasn't the best player in the AL - though most of the alternatives were probably on steroids - but the narrative wrote itself. The legend of Ichiro started in 2001, and hasn't stopped since, but there have been twists and turns.
Ichiro was often heralded as a throwback player. He exelled at the things old-school baseball men started to really care about in the early-2000's when baseball was being transformed into a homer-happy, OPS-loving world. He hit for average, and hit ground ball singles. A lot of them. He just hit; he didn't draw walks, or try to hit home runs. He just got on base slapping singles into every conceivable area. Of course, this made the stat-heads often consider him a wholly overrated player in the early to mid 00's. The offensive value of a player who could hit .330 every year, but only get on base at a .360 clip and slug below .500 was not all that high.
Of course, the stat heads then grew up, they learned how to correctly assess defense and baserunning and these other areas that Ichiro was great at, and realized, retrospectively, he was one of the 5 to 10 best players in the AL year in and year out throughout his 'peak' years. Of course, by the time they realized this the current Ichiro had regressed to a player who could not hit .300 and was not all that good anymore.
In the end, we all learned to respect and love the facets of Ichiro's game that he was brilliant in, but also the guy himself. He was quirky, introspective, logical, brilliant. Despite knowing English well (and also knowing enough Spanish to taunt and play with Latin players on the bases), Ichiro maintained a translator in his interviews. Not because he was shy of speaking English, but because he could answer questions better, and with more thought and meaning, in Japanese. His answers to questions on American baseball and culture are illuminating of a true genius. Ichiro, more than anyone, would have loved Alex Rodriguez, a man who loved baseball a little too much.
Alex Rodriguez was, in some ways, the opposite of Ichiro. Statheads loved him from the start, for being a transcendentally great player from the time he was 19, to playing great shortstop, to hitting better than any shortstop ever had. Alex Rodriguez was a top-5 player in baseball for a good 15 years straight. Other than playing baseball, and I guess escaping failing drug test, Alex Rodriguez couldn't really do anything else.
He was a bit narcassistic, but even worse was nowhere near charming enough to get away with it (see: Bryant, Kobe, for somehow who often was). He was awkward and robotic at times, very much a US version of Cristiano Ronaldo. And, worst of all, he had the gall to accept a ridiculous amount of money from Texas in 2001. Alex Rodriguez's contract was astounding. So much so it is still the 3rd largest contract ever given out in US sports, beaten only by his own next contract ($275 MM), and Giancarlo Stanton's contract ($325 MM) which comes with a massive out clause and likely won't approach that in total compensation. Sportswriters and old-school baseball guys lost their minds over this.
In retrospect, not only was it ridiculous to be upset at someone at taking a lot of money, this was probably the best giant contract baseball ever handed out. A-Rod was just entering his Year 25 season, and played under that contract for 7 years (before opting out and signing the next 10-year deal after the 2007 season). In that time, he averaged a .304/.400/.541 slash line, with 329 HRs and 908 RBIs, winning three MVP awards, three gold gloves, and generally being awesome. He racked up 56.3 WAR in that time as well. This was basically as good a return as you can get on a mega-contract.
Of course, all of this leaves out the elephant in the room of his steroid use. A-Rod admitted it happened. The world knows it happened. The world also knows a lot of people were on steroids and didn't come close to matching A-Rod's accomplishments, and also that no one has been punished more for it. Despite never failing a test, and despite MLB having set guidelines for steroid suspensions, the MLB gave him a 200-game suspension, kicking him out for some of 2013 and the entire 2014 season. This was a ruthless justice system punishing a guy more than really what was necessary. If anyone paid their price, it was A-Rod.
Alex Rodriguez's strange snap retirement is a sad coda for one of the generations best players, especially when it somewhat overshadowed another of this era's best players signature achievement. The fact that Ichiro reached 3,000 hits in the US is insane, since when he turned 27, he had a grand total of zero. Ichiro basically had to average 200 hits a year for 15 seasons, and he did it. A-Rod also reached 3,000 hits (he was the most recent player to do so), but that will be the tenth or twentieth item on A-Rod's career resume.
These two players defined the extremes of the last 15-20 years. Baseball is great because two players could be so different, and attack their job in such different ways, yet still be about as valuable as each other and succeed to similar degrees (admittedly, A-Rod was a far better player). Ichiro represented one of my favorite aspects of baseball, the fact that the playoffs doesn't matter when it comes into debating who was great as Ichiro of course never played in a playoff game after hsi rookie season. Of course, A-Rod shows that it still did for one guy as his notable playoff failures probably had more to do with his negative approval rating in New York than his steroid conviction. Ichiro represented the increasing influence of the Japanese game. A-Rod the lasting immersion of the latin game. Both players are true greats, even if they did it in such different ways.
