You are right, the ASG isn't just about power hitters, but the HR derby sure the heck is. That was my original point. That is why Matsui would be a much better fit to represent Japan in the HR Derby. He is more deserving of an all star nod than Ichiro in general.

But that is the thing with Ichiro... his only real plus at the plate is his BA, which is an overrated statistic. He isn't a young Nomar slapping extra base hits everywhere while compiling an incredible BA. He is hitting a bunch of singles, which in most cases are no better than a walk, which is where OBP comes in. Matsui with his walks gets on base just as much as Ichiro does, which pretty much nullifies that. His power (potential for extra base hits) makes him a more valuable player than Ichiro. Ichiro's VORP is 21.9... Matsui's VORP is 35.0. The roles that they fill may be different for their teams, but Matsui is still one of the top LFers in the game I would say. I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this issue.