BASEBALL
Ramirez puts himself in RBI record books; homers twice
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34 Comments
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sourpuss
Nice. Next, the HR record.
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some14some
Congratulations - Ramirez !
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isthistheend
Nice going. And look at how humble he acknowledges his achievement. Doesn't sound simple-minded to me.
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Jbeezy
unfortunatly they will stop pitching to him if he gets close to the HR record. I'm sure he's been here long enough to understand that.
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spudman
Why would that be?
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chuckers
Hard to say. Since Oh is no longer coaching, the pitchers might try to go for it, regardless.
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techall
an elite club of his own
Isn't that kind of redundant?
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Jbeezy
spudman: you serious? Do a little research on foreign sluggers playing over here. I dont think it has anything to do with one manager, active or inactive. The call not to pitch to him will come from the top.
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Debucho
Please guys. Everyone know the manager decides to pitch or not to a guy. Oh was a jerk protecting his own record. There is no way the Japanese will let the record get broken by a foreigner.
Don't question my knowledge on the subject either. I am an insider.
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Branded
"There is no way the Japanese will let the record get broken by a foreigner. Don't question my knowledge on the subject either. I am an insider."
Ha-ha, one doesn't exactly have to be an insider to the obvious here guys. As the season winds down, if Ramirez is even close to Oh's season home run mark... well, what does wiki have to say...
"On three occasions, foreign-born players have challenged Oh's single-season home run record of 55 and faced Oh-managed teams late in the season. On every single occasion, Oh's pitchers refused to throw strikes to them.
In 1985, American Randy Bass, playing for the Hanshin Tigers, came into the last game of the season against the Oh-managed Giants with 54 home runs. Bass was intentionally walked four times on four straight pitches each time. Bass reached over the plate on the fifth occasion and batted the ball into the outfield for a single. After the game, Oh denied ordering his pitchers to walk Bass, but Keith Comstock, an American pitcher for the Giants, later stated that an unnamed Giants coach had threatened a fine of $1,000 for every strike that any Giants pitcher threw to Bass"
Seems the Japanese have "qualms" about foreigners breaking their records- even if you do have dual citizenship like Oh !
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ratpack
Please beat Oh's record. Do us all a favor. I hope he is within sight of it with a heap of games to play....it'll be hard to pitch around him game after game after game.
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hoserfella
Bass, Rhodes and Cabrera all found thenselves "stuck" at either 54 or 55. The Japanese single-season HR record is meaningless.
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Blacklabel
In my opinion, Ramirez is such a likeable guy that I do think they will allow him to do it if he gets close enough with more than 1 or 2 games left.
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Debucho
They WILL NOT let him break it. You are wasting your typing fingers wishin it.
That is one of the only sacred achievements they can hold on to. Even if they have to cheat and have inferior skills. Pathetic but true.
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Blacklabel
I only see him making it to about 48 anyway, so I dont think it will matter. This is just one of the many interesting subplots of baseball this year. With 3 teams tied for Pacific League lead and 3 Central league teams so close to each other, one game just might make the difference.
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Lunchbox
If he gets anywhere near it (which he probably won't as Blacklabel has also said), it will be at the end of the season. It's a 3 way race this year, too close for any of the managers to worry about records. They will do whatever they can to win. This isn't high school baseball, it's pro-leagues, they're jobs and big bucks are on the line, think about it. Anyway, it would be a great side plot, but, he is a Giant, so I hope he gets nowhere near it.
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Hotbox08
Like Ramirez breaking Oh's consecutive season RBI record?
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Branded
"Like Ramirez breaking Oh's consecutive season RBI record?"
Someone obviously doesn't understand baseball and what constitutes the "Holy Grail" of records ! In MLB they are:
-The career home run record
-The Single Season home run record
-Dimaggios consecutive games hitting streak
You approach any of these and the world stops to take note ! For example, Ichiro's record for most hits in a season ??? A week afterwards it was Ho-hum city ! Interesting... but hardly earth shattering ! Ramirez has done nice here- but the one he really wants is Oh's single season Home-run record ! He'll never get it though- the ripple effect through the nations psyche would be devastating ! Imagine, losing the nations home-run record and the #2 spot for world economies to foreigners in the same year would simply be too much ! I can see the confusion on the morning train ride already... "uhhh, where are we ?"
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Debucho
Hotbox give it up. No Japanese care about how many seasons he had 100 RBIs. Drop your agenda and get real. Branded, thanks for talking sense..
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Hotbox08
Really? Then why is it that on mlb.com, Ichiro's record of 262 hits in a season continues to be highlighted in the historical stats section? His picture continues to be shown next to George Sisler and Terry O'Doul.
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/stats/index.jsp?tcid=navmlbstats
You're correct, Debucho. The Japanese care more about winning championships than in individual records. Thanks for clearing that up for me. My bad.
By the way, Branded, if you knew anything about baseball, you'll know the "Holy Grail" of records goes something like this:
As for homeruns? Any Tom, Dick, and Harry knows what a homerun is. Besides, with the steroid debate, the homerun records now carry a load full of asterisks.
Even the .400 season batting average gets attention every year a hitter gets close to reaching it.
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nigelboy
"Dual citizenship like Oh"
Fail. Again.
Moderator: Readers, the subject is Ramirez. Please focus your comments on him.
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hoserfella
Hotbox, utter rot. The only record you mentioned being important was Dimaggio's. As for Japanese caring more about championships, watch Ichiro celebrate his 200th hit this year with bells and whistles while his team mops up the cellar floor in last place from day 1.
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Hotbox08
Oh really, then why is the American media paying so much attention to Derek Jeter's rise to 3000 hits? There are even talks about whether or not he could reach Pete Rose's record. It must be important if they are giving it so much air time.
Well, although you may think the other records I mentioned is rot, why is it that baseball analysts and the players themselves don't think so? Ask Derek Jeter if he thinks getting Pete Rose's hits record is "rot". Ask Alex Ramirez if he thinks getting 100 RBIs in eight straight seasons is "rot". I bet all the money I have that they would say that it is not.
hoserfella, do you understand what the word "sarcasm" means? I was obviously making a sarcastic response to a previous poster's about Japanese people not caring about 100 RBIs. Honestly, I feel that every baseball fan, whether they be Japanese or not, cares about records and stats. Heck, even most of the athletes themselves, like Ramirez, care about them, but will publicly say, “I only care about wins”, even though deep down inside they would feel happy to get a record. I've even seen some MLB pitchers get upset at some of their players for not helping to preserve a perfect game, because they "cared" about getting that rare achievement.
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hoserfella
Hotbox, the old "I was being sarcastic" thing is weak. And by the way, NO ONE has talked about Jeter breaking Rose's record. He would have to average 200 hits over the next 7 years to do so and is a ripe old 36 with diminishing skills.
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Hotbox08
Why? Don't tell me you never use it on JT. To me, a bit of sarcasm adds a bit of spice to life.
You obviously haven't been paying attention. Yankee fans are counting down to when he would reach 3000 (sometime early next season). I've even seen on Yahoo, where their experts were predicting whether he could reach 4000 and even come close to Pete Rose.
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Hotbox08
Hoserfella: Prove to me that a homerun is more important than an RBI. To me, Ramirez getting 100 RBIs in eight straight seasons is very significant. It proves that he's been able to help his team drive in at least 100 runs a season, which helped to contribute to his team's performance. Yes, you could say that a homerun is also awe-inspiring, but a guy who hits 50 HRs in a season may not necessarily drive in 100 runs. And just because a record seems unreachable, doesn't make it less awe-inspiring or important. People to this day are amazed at the number of hits Pete Rose got, or stolen bases Ricky Henderson was able to swipe. Heck, I'm even impressed when a pitcher is able to go 20-30 innings without allowing a score, or seeing a pitcher pitch a perfect game. As for Bonds' HR record, it too is significant. Yet, you hear very little about his name being mentioned nowadays. Correction, you do hear about him, but only when it is paired with the words "court" and "BALCO".
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hoserfella
Hotbox, your thoughts are spiraling all over the place. We were talking about records that capture fan's imaginations, and theres a reason why no one remembers consecutive 100 RBI seasons. Its not sexy. Admirable, but not sexy.
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Hotbox08
hoserfella: I apologize for misinterpreting your thoughts. Yes, you are correct, to the casual baseball fan, a homerun record is more "sexy" and they will remember it. However, to the diehard baseball fan, RBIs, perfect games, stolen bases, and number of strikeouts by a pitcher are just as sexy stats. You see, I love baseball and have been following it nearly my entire life. I grew up watching the likes of Ricky Henderson, Nolan Ryan, and Lee Smith to name a few. I still remember the fanfare given when these stars set their own records. It was no less "sexy" to the diehard fan than Barry Bonds breaking Hank Aaron's home run record. In fact, people still debate over whether Bonds really deserves it or not.
In the end, you have to question whether a record is "sexy" to the casual fan as opposed the one who follows baseball religiously.
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