He went up there trying to pull everything and only hit 15 home runs. He posted a .350 OBP, which was his worst until this year. I think he was reacting to being labeled a slap hitter. Around August, he seemed to become aware that he might miss 200 hits, and went back to a more classic, spray the ball approach. At least, that’s how it looked to my eyes.

I think his downfall in ‘05 was that he still wasn’t that selective. He was still a hacker. I think that if he wants to succeed as a power guy, he needs to stalk his pitch until he gets to two strikes. He needs to swing like hell if he gets it, and walk if he doesn’t. Once he’s at two strikes though, go back to the classic Ichiro approach — which I imagine would be something like asking a person walking on their hands to try using their feet again.

That said, I don’t think Ichiro is a power hitter. I think that version of Ichiro is a myth which baseball fans have created because that Ichiro appeals to them, and in fifty years we’ll be telling our kids stories about how Ichiro journeyed to the land of the dead to pose questions to a long-dead seeress. Ichiro is a hall of fame leadoff hitter, one of the best ever, and if watching him play like Juan Pierre for five years is the penalty I have to pay for the 11 years of amazing we just got, I’m perfectly happy to pay up.

I’m sure my memory is flawed, but I have never seen him hit the ball out to center or the other way before, and rarely do I see him hit and extra base hit with authority either way.

Guys! We’ve been missing the point the whole time! If only the announcers were more concerned about the team winning we could be a playoff team! I think it’s high time we called for a regime change in the booth. Rizzs, Sims, and Blowers are only holding this team back