Ichiro and the Hall

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

I firmly believe that Ichiro could hit 30 home runs a season if he wanted to but he'd have to settle for about a BA in the .270 range and isn't willing to do that.

He's averaged more than 220 hits a season in 10 years. His hand-eye coordination is unbelievable. And he's hit enough homers with that "singles swing" that there just can't be any doubt that he could hit for power.

 

This is a completely unnecessary thread. A) There's already an Ichiro thread on page 1 where this question should've been posed; B) There is no debate on this question, Ichiro is an absolute lock.

 

He should be in. Whether he gets his 3,000 in the MLB or not.

 

Maybe it should have been on baseball running thread.

 

But without a separate thread, how to carry on an imaginary debate with an imaginary colleague?

 

I'm with Old Tony on this one. What possible argument is there for keeping him out? 200 hits 10 straight years and a .331 career average isn't good enough?

 

He doesn't walk enough for a leadoff hitter [/rickstain]

 

Easily a Hall of Famer. Doesn't even need 3,000 hits to get there. No question about it.

Not even close to the player Albert Pujols is, though. That stuff about Suzuki being a better "batsman" is ridiculous. Hell, Pujols actually has a slightly higher career batting average (.3314 to .3313) than Suzuki. Of course, the on-base percentage isn't close (.426 to .376) and Pujols has a slugging percentage that is nearly 200 points higher (.625 to .430).

Suzuki is obviously a better defensive player, but it's not like Pujols can't play in the field. Suzuki's glove doesn't come close to making up for how much better Pujols is with the bat.

 

He's currently 27th among active players in terms of getting on base.

I'd definitely put him in the HOF, but he'd be behind a lot of people who this board consider borderline cases.

 

Pujols has Ichiro in power, which is not to be underestimated. But Ichiro is the superior player at all other aspects of the game -- baserunning, fielding, throwing, etc. There's no question Ichiro's a HOF-caliber player.

 

How many active players right now are bigger locks? Pujols? I'm not even sure I would say A-Roid is more of a lock, even though I know he'll get in.

 

He has him in more than just power offensively. He matches Suzuki's strength, batting average, and blows him away in terms of getting on base. Sure, a great deal of that is pitchers avoiding him. But it is also the willingness to take a walk, something that has always limited Suzuki.

And that gap in power is massive.