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Thursday January 23, 2025
Ichiro Goes to Cooperstown
Earlier this week, CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner and Ichiro Suzuki were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. First-timer Sabathia got nearly 87%, final-timer Wagner got 82%, and first-timer Ichiro came one vote short of being the first position player to be elected unanimously. He joins the 99-percenter club, those guys who have gotten north of 99% of the vote:
- Ken Griffey Jr.
- Mariano Rivera
- Derek Jeter
- Ichiro
What's interesting about that list besides its recency bias? Two of the players went in as Yankees, the franchise with the most pennants in baseball history (41), while the other two went in as Seattle Mariners, the franchise with the fewest pennants in baseball history (goose egg). It's the feast and famine contingent. When I mentioned the observation to my father the other day, and added, “I don't think it means anything,” he said, “It means you've been lucky. You got to see some of the best baseball players in the world.” True. And they, sadly, didn't get to see the World Series. Ichiro got to the ALCS twice, first with the 116-win Mariners but got knocked out in five by the Jeter- and Rivera-led Yanks, and then with the 2012 Yanks, who lost to Detroit. Griffey famously eschewed putting on pinstripes, and saw one LCS, in '95 against Cleveland, after helping eliminate the Yankees in the LDS. He had a helluva postseason that year: .300/.400/.500 against the Indians, .300/.400/1.000 against the Yanks. After that it was just dribbles: poor showings in the LDS in '97 and '08 (w/the White Sox).
The HOF news sent me scurrying back to the archives to see what I'd written about Ichiro. Once upon a time I wrote the player profiles for the alternative fan magazine “The Grand Salami,” and here's excerpts about #51 from his rookie year.
April 2001 issue (written pre-season)
Ichiro comes to the M's with a bit of fanfare and a playing record whose numerological significance seems something out of folklore. You've heard of the 7 Wonders of the World? Ichiro won 7 straight batting titles with the Orix Blue Wave, 7 straight Gold Gloves; he was named to 7 straight “Best Nine” All-Star teams. And he's only 27. He has a .353 lifetime batting average and Michael Jordan stature in Japan. Yet he's given it all up to try to become the first Japanese position player to make it big in the bigs. Can he do it? That's the question. How does .353 translate into English? We hope well.
May
Well, that didn't take long. In his first game he looked a little overmatched against Oakland's Tim Hudson—and admitted as much in a post-game interview—but that didn't stop him from dropping a key bunt to help win the game. Four days later against Texas, he went deep in the 10th inning for the game-winner. The following week against Oakland, he made a throw from right field (now capitalized: The Throw) which defied physics, nailing Terrence Long at third. A week later he robbed Raffy Palmeiro of a homerun at Safeco. What's next? Lightning bolts shooting from his hands? Ridding the universe of evil-doers everywhere—or at least Scott Boras?
June
If Ichiro was enjoying his relative anonymity in the U.S. after years of being hounded in Japan, well, he's certainly screwing up a good thing. Not two months into the season and he's already broken the consecutive game hitting streak for Mariner rookies twice. In fact, the word “streak,” with its implication of variability (i.e., a “streaky” hitter), hardly applies to what Ichiro's doing, because there's rarely a game when he doesn't get a hit. As of this writing, he's on pace to break the Major League record of 257 set by George Sisler in 1920.
August
It's been a helluva ride so far: hitting streaks, laser beam throws, game-saving catches and homeruns, triples and stolen bases, the cover of Sports Illustrated, the cover of the All-Star program, and, perhaps the greatest honor of all, the cover of The Grand Salami twice. The best players in the world came to Seattle in July and the focus was this guy. Ah, but then his first real bump in the road. From April to June, he hit safely in all but six games. In July alone (and July isn't over as we write this) he went hitless in nine games. We're betting that July bump-in-the-road will be forgotten by the time you're reading this in August.
September
The last time we were writing Ichiro's profile he was in the midst of a July skid and wound up hitting only .268 for the month. Whispers abounded. They've got that short season in Japan. He's not used to playing a long season. Pitchers are starting to figure him out. Then on July 21 he got a base hit against Minnesota, and afterwards the hits kept coming: 11 games in a row until he went 0-1 as a pinch-hitter in Detroit; then 13 games in a row (and counting). And not just any hits, mind you. Rally starters. Game winners. Has there ever been such a clutch guy? With runners in scoring position, he's hitting .491.
October
Here's a question from the April issue: “How does .353 (Ichiro's career batting average in Japan) translate into English?” Ichiro didn't take long to answer that one. He's the likely A.L. batting champion, Rookie-of-the-Year, and a marketing dream. So how does .353 translate into English? It translates to about ... .353.
The Mariners now have three players repping them in Cooperstown: Griffey, Ichiro, Edgar. Not a bad trio. Might King Felix join them someday? This is his first year on the ballot and he got 20% of the vote, and his advanced numbers are short. The good news is no great pitchers are coming through the transom for another four or five years, so he might pick up the slack. He's certainly beloved. He's got the Cy and the perfect game and the 2500+ Ks. Hell, I'd put him in just for the “This is my house!” moment.
After Felix, though, is there anyone? Jamie Moyer via vet committee? For his good works and longevity? Nelson Cruz for ditto? Julio if he ever becomes Julio? I'm grasping at straws here. I really don't see anyone. And now I'm curious if Ichiro might be the last Seattle Mariner I ever see inducted in the Hall of Fame in my lifetime.