ICHIRO: A HALL-OF-FAMER?

Your first instinct might be to answer, "Absolutely!", when asked, "Is Ichiro worthy of the Hall-of-Fame?" However, in his 9 seasons, he just shy of 2000 hits with a .333 lifetime batting average, 81 HRs, 505 RBI, and 339 SB. His rookie season he was one of few to win both he ROY and MVP awards and once had 262 hits in one season. Needless to say that had Ichiro came over to play from Japan sooner is his career than he'd be a lock for the Hall. Below is Jon Paul Morosi's article from FoxSports.com which further discusses the topic. It should be mentioned that Morosi's somehow forgot to note that Ichiro has won 9 straight gold gloves. Someone make a case for me that he doesn't belong in Cooperstown.



CLEVELAND - We've burned through too many words when it comes to Hall of Fame candidates in the Steroid Era. So, let's consider a different case.

Let's discuss someone as far from the performance-enhancement controversy as just about anyone in baseball. Let's talk about someone whose game involves singles instead of slugging, a player whose candidacy is both unprecedented and untainted.

What are we to do with Ichiro Suzuki?

Ichiro is on the verge of collecting his 200th hit this season, an annual Northwest event like Seafair, the Apple Cup and winter dampness.

This time, it carries special significance. Ichiro, at 183 hits entering Sunday, is about to reach the mark for a ninth straight year. That will be a record for consecutive 200-hit seasons. (Pete Rose, with 10 seasons, holds the overall record.)

Ichiro leads the majors in hits since debuting with the Mariners in 2001. Not even Albert Pujols is all that close.

Suzuki is 12 away from 2,000 for his career. He was the first Japanese position player, batting champion and Most Valuable Player in the U.S. major leagues.

He's also going to be the first Japanese player to receive serious consideration for the Hall of Fame.

And the decision shouldn't be that hard.

"To me," Ken Griffey Jr. said Friday, "he's a Hall of Famer now."

Griffey can speak on that subject with some authority. The Kid will go to Cooperstown on the first ballot, five years after we see that smooth swing for the final time.

Players must participate in 10 major league seasons in order to be eligible for the Hall. Ichiro, 35, will satisfy that criterion next year. After that, it's going to become very difficult for observers to argue that he doesn't belong.

Suzuki already has the single-season hits record (262, set in 2004) and more than 3,000 hits between Japan and the U.S. And he has done it all while serving as the standard-bearer for Japanese position players in the big leagues, giving him the sort of historical claim that counts in Cooperstown.

If that's not a Hall of Fame resume, I'm not sure what is.

"I think fans tend to take him for granted," Mariners president Chuck Armstrong said. "And I think that's a shame, because I've never seen anything like him before and I doubt I'll see anything like him again. He's special."

"When I see him do something," Griffey said, "I feel like one of the fans."

The chief contention against Ichiro's inclusion would be, simply, that he hasn't played in the majors long enough. But Japanese players shouldn't be penalized for the posting system that governs many transfers to the U.S. major leagues.

A critic might also point out that Ichiro, who has hit more than 10 home runs only twice in his career, is somewhat one-dimensional. That is true. But I would argue that, in an era of omniscient video and detailed scouting reports, it's not easy to get base hits.

And Ichiro is not just a good singles hitter. He's the preeminent base-knock artist of his time.

"Ichiro could retire right now and be in the Hall of Fame," teammate Miguel Batista said. "People have to understand that the Hall of Fame is not just for the numbers. It's dominating the era you played in."

Ichiro could eliminate virtually all dissent about his Hall of Fame candidacy by sticking around long enough to register 3,000 hits. And he may do that. His current contract runs out after the 2012 season, and he will turn 39 that October.

He could have 2,600 hits by then — maybe more — even if he falls off the 225-per-year average from his first eight seasons. And given his body type and training regimen, it's quite possible that Ichiro won't want to stop there.

Masa Niwa, a Sankei Sports reporter who has covered Ichiro for much of his major league career, believes Suzuki will play until he is 43 or 44 years old. If that's the case, it would take a prolonged absence or precipitous decline in production for Ichiro to fall short of 3,000.

Ichiro might be the type of person who continues playing as long as he finds the game enjoyable. To that end, it's worth noting that he seems to be having more fun at the ballpark these days, certainly more than he did when the Mariners lost 101 games last year.

John McLaren, the former manager with whom Ichiro is close, was fired last June; after his dismissal, McLaren told reporters that there had been tension, friction and jealousy in the clubhouse. Then last September, a Seattle Times story quoted an anonymous source as saying a number of players on the team disliked Ichiro.

"You could see he was very uncomfortable," Batista said of Ichiro, when asked about the 2008 season. "This year, he's not. You see him laugh more. He jokes around with the guys. He actually goes to lunch and breakfast with some guys. That never happened, as long as I was here."

Griffey and fellow veteran Mike Sweeney are widely credited with putting Ichiro — and the rest of the clubhouse — at ease. Ichiro met Griffey in 1995 and has looked up to him for years; Niwa believes it is a dream come true for Suzuki to play on the same team as someone he respects so much.

Ichiro is known to keep a very rigid pregame schedule. Griffey is probably one of only a handful of players in baseball with the personality and cachet to disrupt it in a respectful way.

If anything, that has helped Suzuki's production. Despite spending part of April on the disabled list, he's in the midst of perhaps his finest season since '04.

"I get him loosened up," Griffey said. "I help him have fun. ... Everything is on time with him, and I try to break that up some of the time. Right when he starts to stretch, I grab him. Sometimes you need to laugh before you go out there."

Soon, Suzuki will feel the relief that comes with Hit No. 200, that annual signpost of a season well-played. A new record will come with it this time, moving him a few miles closer to Cooperstown. Where he belongs.

Link to article.