Ichiro -- discuss

Count me as another vote for Ichiro in the HoF (that is, if I had a vote).

 

Wow. I'm sorry I started such a crappy thread where everyone agrees.

 

Did anyone ever collect on that $1 million bounty a Japanese magazine was offering for a naked picture of Ichiro? That would make an interesting story.

 

He doesn't walk enough.

 

Mea culpa. And why isn't a man with 800 HRs or some such in the Hall?

 

Because it's the NATIONAL Baseball Hall of Fame. Oh never played in the United States.

 

I was sold on Ichiro the night I saw him play live. M's were playing at Houston; ironically it was the same day Darryl Kile died and a lot of his friends on the 'Stros (Biggio, Bagwell, et. al.) sat out, although Bagwell came on to pinch-hit in the 12th inning and got a GWRBI. Anyway, I paid a lot of attention to the way Ichiro played, the way he could put the ball anywhere he wanted, the way he ran the bases, the way he played his position, and I was totally impressed. Not quite the complete hitter that Albert Pujols is (doesn't have the power), but in every other respect Ichiro is the greatest pure hitter of his generation, and no one else is close.

 

Rather than sheer numbers, I always felt that the HOF meant dominance during an extended period (hence no Blyleven; hard to explain Sutton away). By that standard Ichiro is a first ballot HOFer. In the past 9 years, no one else comes close to him. 262 hits in a year? 9 straight 200 hits? Ridiculous.

 

Probably some jackass thinking he is protecting the Hall of Fame by making sure nobody gets in unanimously. Better players than Ichiro have been left off at least a few ballots, most recently Rickey Henderson.

 

Henderson was not a better player than Ichiro, not even at his peak, he simply played far more years here. You're talking about a .333 vs. .279 lifetime hitter.

 

You're also talking about the all-time leader in stolen bases, runs and leadoff homers and the all-time leader, at the time of his retirement, in walks.

Ichiro is great and a sure-fire HOFer, but he's nowhere near Rickey.

 

Henderson was five times the player Ichiro is.