Post by Andy Duke on May 30, 2009 16:39:47 GMT -5
Just before we start this, just a couple of "rules"/suggestions
1) Try to present some form of argument rather than just yes or no. Just strictly for the fact that it'll promote discussion
2)Keep things in the realm of both on the field actions and reality. Someone who hits 10 Home Runs a season isn't going to magically start hitting 70 in their last few seasons(well, not usually
). And keep it to on the field stuff. A "Pete Rose" can happen to anyone, so lets not even hypothesize about it.
OK, now that that is out of the way, lets get round 1 underway with who is quite possibly one of the greatest Japanese baseball players in history, and who is by far my all time favorite player, Ichiro.
Ichiro SUZUKI-OF Seattle Mariners(2001-), Orix Blue Wave(1992-2000)
Career(or in this case,MLB) stats*
Career Highlights and Awards
Reasons Pro:
-His stats. They speak for themselves. So far, in his 8+ seasons, he's yet to have a "bad" one(as evidenced by being voted to the All-Star Game and winning a Gold Glove each of his seasons). Not to mention that on top of his stats, he was also the first Japanese-born position player in Major League Baseball.
-On top of his MLB stats, he was arguably the best player in the Nippon league (A career .353 hitter in Japan).
Reasons Con:
-Since he had a decent career in Japan prior to being here, his MLB career won't be as long as his peers. After the 2009 season, he will have played 18 seasons of professional baseball, but only 9 of them in America. I can't see his MLB career lasting more than 12 seasons, tops. Because of that, a lot of his numbers won't be quite as high.
-In an era of power hitters, Ichiro is the antithesis of that. His career(MLB) HR total isn't all that much more than some people's single season numbers. That may hurt him slightly.
-This may be breaking one of my own rules, but racism. Racism against blacks(in baseball) ended a while ago, and it seems it also has against latino players as well. But Ichiro will be really the first Asian player with a legit Hall of Fame claim in the US. I would like to hope that his ethnicity won't matter, but sadly, Americans, especially from prior generations(which a lot of the HOF committee is) are not too progressive.
I will refrain from voting, since I am heavily biased here.
*as of May 24th, 2009
1) Try to present some form of argument rather than just yes or no. Just strictly for the fact that it'll promote discussion
2)Keep things in the realm of both on the field actions and reality. Someone who hits 10 Home Runs a season isn't going to magically start hitting 70 in their last few seasons(well, not usually
). And keep it to on the field stuff. A "Pete Rose" can happen to anyone, so lets not even hypothesize about it.OK, now that that is out of the way, lets get round 1 underway with who is quite possibly one of the greatest Japanese baseball players in history, and who is by far my all time favorite player, Ichiro.
Ichiro SUZUKI-OF Seattle Mariners(2001-), Orix Blue Wave(1992-2000)
Career(or in this case,MLB) stats*
- .330 Batting Average
- 1,856 Hits
- 900 runs
- 482 RBI
- 321 Stolen bases
- 77 Home Runs
Career Highlights and Awards
- 8x All-Star selection (2001-2008)
- 8x Gold Glove Award winner (2001-2008)
- 2x Silver Slugger Award winner (2001, 2007)
- 2x Batting Champion (2001, 2004)
- 2001 AL MVP
- 2001 AL Rookie of the Year
- 2007 MLB All-Star Game MVP
- Single-season major league record with 262 hits
Reasons Pro:
-His stats. They speak for themselves. So far, in his 8+ seasons, he's yet to have a "bad" one(as evidenced by being voted to the All-Star Game and winning a Gold Glove each of his seasons). Not to mention that on top of his stats, he was also the first Japanese-born position player in Major League Baseball.
-On top of his MLB stats, he was arguably the best player in the Nippon league (A career .353 hitter in Japan).
Reasons Con:
-Since he had a decent career in Japan prior to being here, his MLB career won't be as long as his peers. After the 2009 season, he will have played 18 seasons of professional baseball, but only 9 of them in America. I can't see his MLB career lasting more than 12 seasons, tops. Because of that, a lot of his numbers won't be quite as high.
-In an era of power hitters, Ichiro is the antithesis of that. His career(MLB) HR total isn't all that much more than some people's single season numbers. That may hurt him slightly.
-This may be breaking one of my own rules, but racism. Racism against blacks(in baseball) ended a while ago, and it seems it also has against latino players as well. But Ichiro will be really the first Asian player with a legit Hall of Fame claim in the US. I would like to hope that his ethnicity won't matter, but sadly, Americans, especially from prior generations(which a lot of the HOF committee is) are not too progressive.
I will refrain from voting, since I am heavily biased here.
*as of May 24th, 2009
