In a column on this website two posts ago, I wrote about how surprised I was that Ichiro's slugging percentage—both the raw figure and his ranking—dropped significantly in Major League Baseball compared to his time in Japan. In fact, there is something else that surprised me greatly when comparing his Japanese and MLB careers: his on-base percentage (OBP). An incredibly wonderful interview with Ichiro by Yuta Ishida. "Ichiro Interviews: Complete Edition" (in Japanese, Bungeis

In the previous column on this website, I wrote about my visit to the "National Italian American Sports Hall of Fame" in Chicago. I also mentioned how, while there, I thought of a certain Italian-American Major League Baseball player who was neither honored in the Hall nor featured in any of its exhibits. He was a player I had truly loved. This time, I would like to talk about him. Jason Giambi. He made his Major League debut with the Oakland Athletics in 1995 and quickly ma

This is a sequel to my last column. In my last column, I wrote about my personal analysis of the “rankings in eight batting categories.” Every year, I research each player’s league ranking in eight batting categories: hits, walks, home runs, runs, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. I believe that players who achieve the top five in the league in all eight categories can be considered the best hitters in MLB. This is merely one example of wha