By: William Robinson
Here was the first matchup of Ichiro vs Rose.
Hear ye! Hear ye!! Come one! Come all!! Today we have the main event!!! In one corner hailing from Nichi-Kasugai-gun, Japan weighing in at 175 lbs the Wizard Ichiro Suzuki, and in the other corner from Cincinnati, Ohio weighing in at 192 lbs Charlie Hustle Peter Edward Rose!!!!
Today we settle this once and for all. Who was the better hit king!!! Now let’s have a clean fight and remember no low blows. Also, Japanese league baseball does not count in this argument. We are only comparing major league baseball stats.
Ichiro has played 18 seasons (although in this argument I’m going to throw out this season because he has barely played), while Pete Rose played in 24 seasons (I will throw out his 1984 season in which he only played 24 games to be fair). Pete played from age 22 to age 45 while Ichiro played from 27 to 44.
Ichiro: Average WAR 3.49, average R 83.5, average hits 181, BA .311, average HR 6.9, average RBI 45.89, average SB 29.94, OPS .757, OPS + 107, Fielding percentage .993
Rookie of the Year,
MVP
10-time All-Star,
10-time Gold Glove
3-time Silver Slugger
2-time batting title winner
AS MVP
Pete Rose: Average WAR 3.47, average R 94.13, average hits 185, BA .303, average HR 6.97, average RBI 57.13, average SB 8.6, OPS .784, OPS + 111, Fielding percentage .987 (but he played every position other than SS).
Rookie of the Year
MVP
17-time All-Star
2-time Gold Glove
1-time Silver Slugger
3-time World Series Champ
World Series MVP
3-time batting title winner
Without a clear knockout winner, it’s time to go to the cards.
Judge 1: Ichiro was a better defensive outfielder and was faster having more stolen bases. His Average WAR is higher and as a person who believes in modern analytics I’m going to give the slight edge to Ichiro.
Judge 2: Pete Rose was a more dynamic player, he played every position on the field except shortstop and catcher and was a world series MVP and was leader of one of the greatest teams to ever play baseball the Big Red Machine. He is the winner.
Judge 3: Pete Rose was a stronger batter. His OPS + was better than Ichiro, as was is OPS. He won more batting titles than Ichiro too. He also had more average hits per season, more average runs per season, and more home runs and RBI’s. He is the winner.
The WINNER by split decision is: Charlie Hustle Peter Edward Rose!!!!