Japanese Ichiro Suzuki is one of 14 new names appearing on the ballot for Hall of Fame Choice through the American Baseball Writers Association (BBWAA).
No one doubts that Ichiro will be a new immortal on January 21 in the sport of balls and strikes. But the question many ask themselves is this: Will he become the second player to receive a unanimous vote?
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So far, only the Panamanian shutter of the New York Yankees, Mariano Rivera, has won a hundred percent of the vote.
It has always been abusive for us that throughout this annual process, some journalists specializing in this sport have ignored on their cards figures such as Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Sandy Koufax, Ken Griffey (Jr) and Derek Jeter, to mention only eight of them.
Ruth lacked 11 votes for unanimity in her year of election (1936-95.1%), to Williams 20 (1966-93.4%), DiMaggio 28 (1955-88.8%), Aaron 9 (1982-97.8%), Mays 23 (1979-94.7%), Koufax 42 (86.9%), Griffey 3 (2016-99.3%) and Jeter 1 (2020-99.7%).
All of these players deserved to receive the unanimous vote. Those who voted against them, at least those who remain active as journalists, should take away the right to vote for making a decision based on bad faith and for hurting the good image of baseball.
Many people and experts have complained against this voting system, but everything has remained the same because the chroniclers are not obliged to give their names, so these fanatics who exercise journalism – keep their sins in anonymity.
When we look at this whole story of players who deserved the totality of the votes and others with great merit who were forced to wait years to be elected, it would be no surprise to see the Japanese rejected by some.
Suzuki won two batting crowns in the American League (2001-04), totaled 3,089 unstoppable (-25), his average was .311, swindled 509 bases, scored 1,420 runs, connected more than 200 unstoppable in ten consecutive seasons setting a record of 262 in 2004, winning the Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player awards in 2021.
The defense won 10 Golden Gloves prizes. Despite not being a home runner, he hit 117 bambinos and towed 780 runs.
It is good to note that these excellent statistics the Japanese got them starting in Major Leagues at the age of 27. Here we must ask another question, How many unthingless would you add if you started in this baseball at the age of 21?
Ichiro personified decency, respect, and integrity as a person. Also excellent as a ball player. To see him play was to enjoy the best baseball. Dear for all the fans no matter if he wore another uniform, admired by teammates and rival players.
More than 60 Japanese players have performed in Major Leagues. The first of these was Masanori Murakami, who did so in 1964 with the San Francisco Giants, to reach the superstar of the moment, Shohei Ohtani, with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Due to his brilliant record on and off the pitch, we can place Ichiro Suzuki as an ideal ball player to be unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Let’s hope this happens on January 21 with the first Japanese player in the Baseball Immortals’s Niche.
