In a comment I read recently, someone attempted to explain the reason why Ichiro hits a lot of home runs. Basically, the premise of the argument was that Ichiro felt that if he tried to hit home runs, his batting average would suffer.
Well it's comparison time now because I found a player who has the same career high in average as Ichiro and did exactly what Ichiro said he could not do.
In 2004, Ichiro had his best season in the Major Leagues; it was the year he set the record for most hits in a season.
Here's a look at the numbers for Ichiro:
Average: .372
Hits: 262
Walks: 49
Strikeouts: 63
Home runs: 8
RBIS: 60
Triples: 5
Doubles: 24
Runs:101
At-Bats: 704
Stolen bases: 36
On-Base Percentage: .414
Slugging Percentage: .455
OPS: .869
Total Bases: 320
Ichiro lead the league in only three categories: average, hits, and at-bats.
Now, it's time to look at Helton's 2000 season:
Average: .372
At-Bats: 580
Hits: 216
Home runs: 42
RBIS: 147
Runs: 138
Triples: 2
Doubles: 59
Strikeouts: 61
Walks: 103
Stolen Bases: 5
On-Base Percentage: .463
Slugging Percentage: .698
OPS: 1.162
Total Bases: 405
Helton lead the National League in hits, doubles, RBIs, batting average, on-base percentage, OPS, and Total Bases. Far more categories than Ichiro did in 2004.
Ichiro beat Helton in hits, at-bats, stolen bases, and triples.
Helton came out on top in home runs, doubles, runs, strikeouts, walks, on-base percentage, slugging percentage, OPS, and Total Bases.
On the defensive side, it's a draw because both Ichiro and Helton are gold glove winners at their respective positions.
So, to answer the question of whether or not Ichiro would have to sacrifice his batting average to hit more home runs: The answer is no, and Helton proves that.
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