Ichiro and the Hall

I have a vote. He's getting it. I'd guess that 75 percent of my fellow voters agree with me, but you never know. We seem to be in a period where everyone has decided the Hall qualifications should be stricter, but for heaven's sakes, when you break a record held by Wee Willie Keeler, you should be in Cooperstown.

 

He's a lock.

 

He's a lock. Does not even warrant discussion.

 

He's in. It's called the Baseball Hall of Fame, not the Major League Baseball HOF. Coupled with his time in Japan with his career here, he's been one of the greatest players in baseball in the last 20 years.

 

The only debate about Ichiro's Hall of Fame status is whether he'll be a first-ballot inductee. And I think he should be.

 

Should Ichiro be in the Hall of Fame? Short answer: Is a pig's pussy pork?

Longer answer: Even if he doesn't end up with 3,000 career hits, he's in. Even if you completely disregard his career in Japan, he's in.

Number one, as mentioned earlier, breaking a record held by Wee Willie Keeler merits getting into Cooperstown. Number two, he's been one of the most feared hitters in baseball from a standpoint of getting on base for a long time. Once he's on base, he's a major threat to steal.

Not only that, but baserunners fear his arm in right field.

You include his career in Japan and the man is a shoo in.

Should he be first ballot? I think so. And I don't mean in that "maybe, maybe not" way you're thinking. That's my I'm 99.9 percent sure "I think so." It would be a crime if he didn't get in first ballot.

 

Re: The most overlooked athlete I have ever seen...

Reminds me of a story I read about Babe Ruth. Sometimes teams would use a defensive shift on him when he came to the plate, and he commented once that he could have hit .600 just slapping singles to the left side.

Of course, he was asked, "Well, why didn't you do that?"

His reply: "That wasn't what the fans came to see."

 

The only reasons Ichiro wouldn't be a unanimous first-ballot pick would be:

1) the old codgers who refuse to vote for ANYONE (including Mays, Aaron, etc) as a unanimous first-ballot pick "because Ruth, Cobb, DiMaggio etc etc weren't unanimous");

2) racism;

3) a completely unlikely and unforeseen post-career Pete Rose-ish incident. I've never read or heard anything about Ichiro engaging in anything much disreputable, so I'd put that in the realm of "asteroid falling on Cooperstown" probability.

 

So does having two threads on SJ mean Ichiro is not the most overlooked athlete anymore?

 

Or overlooked thread?

 

It's called "The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum" and I don't think the nation they're referring to is Japan.

Ichiro is a lock based on his first 10 years in the majors.

 

Maybe the better question is this: What possible excuse would a voter have for not putting him in?