# In praise of Ichiro Suzuki

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-ichiro-suzuki/582502>\
**Category:** The Game Room\
**Created:** [May 19, 2011, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-ichiro-suzuki/582502 "2011-05-19T21:13:38Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-ichiro-suzuki/582502/81 "2011-07-01T15:22:19Z")

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I’d rather have him than J.D. Drew in RF, though.

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**Author:** ![ReticulatingSplines](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@ReticulatingSplines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReticulatingSplines)\
**Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-praise-of-ichiro-suzuki/582502/82 "2011-07-01T18:52:12Z")

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> [@RickJay](#):
>
> I hope so, because I love him, but truth be told in 2011 Ichiro’s been a pretty lousy player. When he hits .333 he’s great, but hitting .275 he’s not really doing much to help the team.

Not only that, but what’s been most surprising to me is how lousy he’s been in the field this year - UZR of -7.5!

Also, I want to say for the record that he can throw a lot harder than people give him credit for. There’s a Youtube clip of him pitching in the NPB All-Star game and IIRC, I think he hits around 90-91 MPH, which is pretty much in line with a guy like Ankiel’s fastball velocity.

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