Does Ichiro Suzuki have enough merit to enter Cooperstown unanimously?

The legendary Japanese player remains perfect in the voting ballots that have been made public for the Hall of Fame.

Ichiro Suzuki will become the first Japanese-born player to enter the Cooperstown Hall of Fame. There is no doubt that the Japanese had a spectacular career in Major Leagueswhich will be rewarded with his entry into immortality, but the question on everyone’s mind is whether in the process, he can become the second player in history to do so unanimously, joining the Panamanian Mariano Rivera.

From a statistical point of view, suzuki It checks all the boxes that voters like. He is a hitter with more than 3,000 hits (3,089), had an average of more than .300 (.311) and an OPS+ of 107, won multiple awards Golden Glove and Silver Batas well as a Rookie of the Year and a Most Valuable Player, but the most important thing is that he achieved all this arriving at a late age to MLBsince in 2001, his debut year, the player was 27 years old.

Off the pitch, the story is similar with the Japanese. Highly respected by teammates and opponents, suzuki He opened the doors for Japanese baseball to begin to be taken seriously in the United States and thanks to his community work, he received nominations for awards Roberto Clemente and Lou Gehrig. It is unlikely that a contemporary former player can be found with suzuki that he can speak badly of the Japanese and his relationship with many baseball players, especially with Latin legends like Miguel Cabrerais very well documented.

Therefore, suzuki He has earned the respect of big names, especially the current face of baseball, Shohei Ohtaniwho at the first opportunity he had to play against the legend of the Asian country, immediately bowed to him.

Shohei Ohtani bows down to his idol, Ichiro and is filled with smiles pic.twitter.com/9sptRHqihQ

—MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2024

His great career, especially with Seattle Marinersmade him worthy of becoming the tenth member of the Hall of Fame of the team, an honor that confirms that he is worthy of entering immortality in MLB.

Currently, of the 28 votes (7.2 percent of voters) that have been made public as of the date of this writing, Ichiro Suzuki has appeared in each of them, so until now it remains perfect, which is a great sign in the aspirations that it can unanimously enter the Hall of Fame.

However, the path of suzuki It will not be easy to reach immortality that way. Cultural and language barriers could lead some voters to decide not to vote for suzukiwhile, for others, the closure of his career between 2015 and 2019 may lead them to analyze that he does not deserve to be a Hall of Fame unanimous.

In that stretch, Ichiro played 449 games with Seattle Mariners and Miami Marlinsbatting just .253 with an OPS of .629 and a negative WAR (wins above replacement level) of -0.2, despite the fact that in 2016 he had a very solid year with the organization of the Marlins.

Additionally, many who believe that others were worthy of entering Cooperstown unanimously as Derek Jeter either Ken Griffey Jr.point out that if those players, with all the career credentials they had, did not manage to enter unanimously, it is very unlikely that Suzuki will achieve it.

In any case, the Japanese has started the search for immortality well and it will be up to the voters to determine whether or not he deserves to be the second member of Cooperstown that enters with all the votes. Ichiro Suzuki It has all the necessary characteristics to be Hall of Fame and there really is no reason valid enough to justify not giving a vote to confirm his entry into immortality.