MLB '10: The Show - Joe Mauer Interview (Gameinformer)

[RJAfan6]

Quote: Originally Posted by TribeFan80

If Ichiro was better than Mauer, he'd be on the cover...and no reason to be sorry.

are you kidding? Ichiro is the only player in history to have at least 200 hits in all of his first 9 years playing. Now honestly do you think mauer is a better hitter? He is probably the best overall player cuz he hits for power, contact and controls the defense and pitchers. Ichiro is just an outfielder with one of the best contact bats in the history of the game. And he probably the only player who cant be considere for 'roids cuz hes hit like what 15 dingers over those 9 yrs. all he can do is hit singles,dbls, and triples with the occasional time where he gets really good contact enough to go over the fence. And he probably has the strongest arm for a guy his age and speed like none other again for a guy at his age.

[GoBucs09]

Quote: Originally Posted by cnh2os84

Joe Mauer's name hasn't come up for like 30 posts, this is a thread about his interview right?!?!??!

This Thread Is Freaking Awesome!


Is Ichiro vs Cobb a better comparison than Ichiro vs Mauer?

How come we don't have goofy nicknames in baseball anymore? Also on a lighter note, not enough people talk with a New York accent! Oh right the Dodgers and Giants moved.

[TribeFan80]

Quote: Originally Posted by RJAfan6

are you kidding? Ichiro is the only player in history to have at least 200 hits in all of his first 9 years playing. Now honestly do you think mauer is a better hitter? He is probably the best overall player cuz he hits for power, contact and controls the defense and pitchers. Ichiro is just an outfielder with one of the best contact bats in the history of the game. And he probably the only player who cant be considere for 'roids cuz hes hit like what 15 dingers over those 9 yrs. all he can do is hit singles,dbls, and triples with the occasional time where he gets really good contact enough to go over the fence. And he probably has the strongest arm for a guy his age and speed like none other again for a guy at his age.

Nope I was not kidding.

And after re-looking at my post comparing the 09 stats I conclude that......Mauer is the better hitter.

[Jdurg]

Quote: Originally Posted by RJAfan6

are you kidding? Ichiro is the only player in history to have at least 200 hits in all of his first 9 years playing. Now honestly do you think mauer is a better hitter? He is probably the best overall player cuz he hits for power, contact and controls the defense and pitchers. Ichiro is just an outfielder with one of the best contact bats in the history of the game. And he probably the only player who cant be considere for 'roids cuz hes hit like what 15 dingers over those 9 yrs. all he can do is hit singles,dbls, and triples with the occasional time where he gets really good contact enough to go over the fence. And he probably has the strongest arm for a guy his age and speed like none other again for a guy at his age.

The thing with Ichiro is that when the time is right, he will try and hit homeruns and you can see him do it. (His swing looks completely different when he is trying to go deep). The thing is, when he does try to go for the longball he's generally able to do it. He just knows that when you spend all your time trying to go deep, you cut down severely on your number of total basehits. When Ichiro hits a homerun, I wouldn't consider him "lucky" for doing so. For just about all baseball players, however, I would say they are lucky.

I'm a Yankees fan, so it is odd for me to be giving praise to other ballplayers. Over the course of their careers, I still think Ichiro will wind up putting out more impressive numbers. Right now, as in this season and next season etc., I would want Mauer since he is younger and has more time ahead of him. But the position of catcher will really catch up with him and by the time they push him out to DH or 1B, his abilities will have already dropped pretty significantly from where they are now. (Which is INSANELY high).

Edit: Oh yeah, one more thing that really makes this comparison pretty pointless and meaningless. Just about everyone here forgets that Mauer is a middle of the lineup hitter while Ichiro is stricly a leadoff hitter. What is important for a leadoff hitter is FAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR different from what is important for a middle of the lineup hitter. Because of where they hit in the lineup, it alters what is more important for them to do. So the better comparison is not to compare players of completely different positions and completely different spots in the lineup, but to compare the players to others in their position and place in the lineup. As a result, you really can't make ANY solid arguments for/against either of the players in this comparison. It's akin to debating who's better; Mariano Rivera or Albert Pujols.

[Goose26]

All of these debates are moot, because when the time comes for Mauer to hang up the spikes, (barring career-ending injury) he will go down as the greatest hitter to have played the game! That's right, you heard it here first.

But seriously, he won't be a catcher for more than another 3 years and once he moves to either 1B or full time DH, he will be able to have just as long of a career as any other position player.

His textbook-perfect swing combined with an eye for the ball that nobody in our generation has seen any other player possess will equal several more batting titles and probably a record or two when all is said and done.

[EnigmaNemesis]

No, no bias there at all Goose.

[Goose26]

Haha, alright, part of it is my Minnesota bias, but most of it is what I would believe no matter where I was from. Anybody who walks more than they strikeout, hits over .350 and blasts 28 HR's is a damn fine hitter in my book.

[EnigmaNemesis]

Garciaparra for the Red Sox walked more than he struck out in 99' and 00', hit over .350 in both years, and had 27 and 21 HRs respectively too. 1.022 and 1.033 OPS.

Sadly he became an injury bug after.