FanHome - View Single Post - Which of these players would you elect to the Hall?

Grandstander · July 28th, 2008, 02:42 PM

Would anyone argue that if Ichiro had begun his career in MLB rather than in Japan, his numbers would have been mediocre or poor, and then suddenly at age 28 he would have turned into Ichiro!, the .330 hitter he has been while in MLB?

I think that as with the case of Jackie Robinson, you take circumstances into account and back end the stats for him. I think that had Ichiro begun over here, he would be a cinch for 3000 hits and 500 stolen bases, numbers which would get him into the HoF with or without the fact that he was a pioneer.

There is precedent for voters considering circumstances, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Kirby Puckett all were inducted because the voters chose to fill in those missing numbers. In the case of Albert Belle, they have elected not to do so. Does Ichiro belong with that first group or with Albert?

July 28th, 2008, 02:42 PM	#36 (permalink)
Grandstander Hall of Famer Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Parts Unknown Northern California Posts: 6,948	Would anyone argue that if Ichiro had begun his career in MLB rather than in Japan, his numbers would have been mediocre or poor, and then suddenly at age 28 he would have turned into Ichiro!, the .330 hitter he has been while in MLB? I think that as with the case of Jackie Robinson, you take circumstances into account and back end the stats for him. I think that had Ichiro begun over here, he would be a cinch for 3000 hits and 500 stolen bases, numbers which would get him into the HoF with or without the fact that he was a pioneer. There is precedent for voters considering circumstances, Jackie Robinson, Sandy Koufax and Kirby Puckett all were inducted because the voters chose to fill in those missing numbers. In the case of Albert Belle, they have elected not to do so. Does Ichiro belong with that first group or with Albert?