- Posts: 594
- Joined: Fri Aug 24, 2012 11:21 am
Sun Jul 03, 2016 2:30 pm
I grew up watching Rose. But if I was drafting a 25 year old Rose or a 25 year old Ichiro taking Ichiro.
Rose played several infield positions but I had the sense at the time he was moved to infield to make room for better fielding outfielders. He played some second but settled at third because his range was below average for a middle infielder. And then later moved to first base partly because that is what team needed but also a concession to age and that being the position where he was the least defensive liability.
Flip side gotta keep in mind part of Ichiro's success this year is that he is not playing every day. He gets used in situations and matchups where he has highest odds of success.
Rose hit more doubles but a large part of his getting so many hits was playing on so many great Reds and Phillies teams that turned the lineup over getting him more plate appearances than the average leadoff hitter. Once I got on base I probably could have scored a lot of runs with the likes of Lee May, Tony Perez, Joe Morgan, Concepcion, Bench, Foster hitting behind me.
Bottom line both were great players. In many ways for many reasons people will compare the two. But really such comparisions are for the most part unfair to both players. For my money compare them if you want. But any comparision that concludes that either player was any less of a great player does a disservices to both players.
