My son asked me this question. At first, I thought it was ridiculous question. Tim Raines is the second greatest leadoff hitter of all time.
But the more I looked at Ichiro’s numbers and remembered he came to the US after playing in Japan, it became a better and better sports question.
Raines: .294/.385/.425/.810; 170 HR; 808 SB; 1571 runs; 980 RBI (2502 games played)
Ichiro: .311/.355/.402/.757; 117 HR; 509 SB; 1420 runs; 780 RBI (2653 games played)
Their WARs are very close. 69 WAR for Raines; 60 WAR for Ichiro. Ichiro had 10 gold gloves. Raines had zero gold gloves.
But the more I looked at Ichiro’s numbers and remembered he came to the US after playing in Japan, it became a better and better sports question.
Raines: .294/.385/.425/.810; 170 HR; 808 SB; 1571 runs; 980 RBI (2502 games played)
Ichiro: .311/.355/.402/.757; 117 HR; 509 SB; 1420 runs; 780 RBI (2653 games played)
Their WARs are very close. 69 WAR for Raines; 60 WAR for Ichiro. Ichiro had 10 gold gloves. Raines had zero gold gloves.
