A single fiber does not make a thread, nor a single tree a forest.

—Ancient Chinese proverb, huh?

Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful.

—Aldous "Braves New World" Huxley

Mr. Spock: Were I to invoke logic, however, logic clearly dictates that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.

Capt. Kirk: Or the one.

—The first time that Spock died ("I got better!"), in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Mr. Roarke

Steve Bonner's statistical look at Ichiro Suzuki's overreliance on singles that was inspired by my comments in the Joe Morgan chat, inspired me to take an historical look at the subject. Specifically, where does Ichiro fall in the litany of singles hitters? Were the players similar to him productive hitters?

I took the stats that Steve used and tweaked them somewhat. First, I took a look at the players with the highest percentage of hits that were singles. Here are the seasonal highs (based on 250 ABs):

So where are the players from today? OK (highest since 1990):

Not a great group of hitters. So where's Ichiro? He didn't make it:

Well, obviously something is lost when you compare across eras. Let's normalize by the seasonal average and re-run the numbers.

Oh, but first, here are the all-time lowest seasonal averages (singles per hits):

That's a considerably better group, though definitely not perfect one.

Now, here are the all-time highest adjusted seasonal totals:

Oopha, that's a considerably worse list. Any list headed by Wayne Tolleson is truly mining anemic offensive skills across eras well, at least in my book. By the way, the Pee Wee Reese season was his last full one and he registered an adjusted OPS of 46(!).

Yet again Ichiro just missed it.

By the way, here are the adjusted lowest singles to hits seasons:

Again, I'd say that this list is stronger than the previous one.

Anyway, let's next look at the career singles-to-hits ratios Min. 2000 ABs):

That's a pretty bad list—at least the recognizable names are pretty bad. What was saying before about Maury Wills not being a Hall-of-Famer? However, Ichiro is still better than the group (all stats through 2003):

By the way here are the lowest career-wise:

Now let's look at the adjusted career averages:

Ah, we have an Ichiro sighting, along with a pretty putrid batch of hitters. Here are the adjusted lows for comparison's sake:

So Ichiro is historically speaking extremely dependent on getting singles. However, I think there's one thing missing. Ichiro also is extremely reluctant to take a walk, a horrific combination. What if we took the portion of each player's on-base percentage represented by singles and compared it to the portion represented by everything else (extra base hits, walks, and times hit by a pitch)?

Well, here are the career worst according to that stat:

Again, this is peopled by lots of ye olde tyme players. Let's adjust for the era, but first the all-time best:

The adjusted career averages:

Now, that's a monumentally wretched list. Extra props to Neifi Perez for making it while playing the bulk of his career in cavernous Coors Field. That's giving 110%!

Next, the all-time best and then some final comments:

By the way, Bill Joyce was a power hitter at the turn of the last century, and Yank Robinson and Max Bishop were walk artists from years gone by.

OK, back to the previous list. Ichiro is 11th all-time. That means that only ten other men had substantial careers in the game and hit fewer extra base hits and walks (and HBP). Ichiro has cobbled together a career with singles, steals, and a great arm in right and basically nothing else. He has been just above water for most of the season. Should he lose any one of those skills as he ages, he is going to have a hard time keeping his job. Then again, he could always return to the Japanese leagues if they are still around.