Coral Gables, Florida (VIP-WIRE).- “Kon-nichiwa” is how we greet each other in Japanese.
-oo-
“Omedetou, Shohei.” That is equivalent, as it sounds in Japanese, to “congratulations, Shohei.”
And this is how we welcome Cooperstown to Ichiro Suzuki:
Hall of Fame and youkoso, Ichiro!
These two extraordinary big leaguers have found very good ways to celebrate the fact that 60 years ago, in 1964, the first Japanese player, left-handed pitcher Masanori Murakami, made it to the Major Leagues with the Giants. After him, 66 more have gone on to play in the Major Leagues.
Murakami spent two seasons in the majors. His record was 5-1, 3.43, nine saves, 100 strikeouts. He was paid $40,750 for each season. Now 80 years old, he lives in Kita Tsuru-gún, Japan.
All the players, not just these two, also celebrate that the first election to the Cooperstown Hall of Fame occurred 90 years ago, in 1936, when Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, Walter Johnson and Ty Cobb received enough votes.
Ichiro Suzuki goes down in history for very good reasons: 1) If he is finally chosen to be elevated in 2025, he will be the first to occupy niches, both in the Japan Hall of Fameas in Cooperstown. And 2) Logically, he will also be the first Japanese to be elevated to the Hall of Fame from here.
I don’t like to get ahead of the election and refer to a candidate as already having a place in Cooperstown. But in cases like Ichiro’s, I think it would be petty not to consider him a must-have for obtaining 75% or more of the votes.
He was that gentleman, one of the most brilliant players to have ever played in the Majors. A player who electrified the atmosphere whenever he appeared on the field.
And just one more of the possible candidates, I think with some chance, CC Sabathia, who was a left-handed pitcher. But nothing is certain in this case.
His career spanned three teams, over 19 years, until 2019, with a record of 251-161, 3.74, 38 complete games, 12 shutouts.
The ballot with the list of official candidates has not yet been approved, but it is assumed that Curtis Granderson, Félix Hernández, Ian Kinsler, Dustin Pedroia, Henley Ramírez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Ben Zobrist will also appear.
From last year, 14 remained on the list, including Billy Wagner in his tenth and final opportunity. I believe that none of them will be chosen. But, anyway… we will see!
Thanks to life that has given me so much, including a reader like you.
ATTENTION: You can read the recent archive of “Juan Vené en la Pelota” on the internet by entering “sport unites us again”.
@juanvene5
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