Spot on. Robinson was not the best player, but the best pick to break the color barrier.
All your bullet points are correct, also. Thanks for pointing out the Ichiro fact--Japanese baseball is awesome, but pretty much AA minor leagues talent wise.
When Maris was chasing 60 HRs, people made the point that even though he had more games, Ruth didn't have to travel cross country. If travel really is that important to a player's ability to produce consistently, then playing in a country the size of CA should definitely unfairly add to those numbers compared to MLB players.
Spot on. Robinson was not the best player, but the best pick to break the color barrier.
All your bullet points are correct, also. Thanks for pointing out the Ichiro fact--Japanese baseball is awesome, but pretty much AA minor leagues talent wise.
When Maris was chasing 60 HRs, people made the point that even though he had more games, Ruth didn't have to travel cross country. If travel really is that important to a player's ability to produce consistently, then playing in a country the size of CA should definitely unfairly add to those numbers compared to MLB players.