A Grip on Sports: With precedent against him, there was no way Ichiro was going to do something baseball’s historic figures were unable to do

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Even when you know something untoward is going to happen, it doesn’t make it any easier to take, does it? But the unpleasant reality of Tuesday’s Hall-of-Fame-vote reveal, that Ichiro Suzuki, the best contact hitter baseball has ever seen, was not about to become the first position player to be a unanimous choice. Not with 400 folks voting anonymously if they wanted.
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• The first time I saw Ichiro hit, I thought back to a baseball hero of my childhood: Ty Cobb. Once the game’s all-time hits leader, there is little video of Detroit’s turn-of-the-century – to be clear, the previous century – star’s batting style, but there has always been enough still photos to patch together a visual of a swing that was compact, quick and designed to allow the 6-foot-1, 175-pound speedster to make consistent contact and get to first base as fast as possible.
Just like Ichiro’s.
Could another Cobb-like hitter thrive 100 years after the first one dominated? Or would the game’s evolution have eliminated the possibility? Turns out Ichiro not only survived, but thrived. Mainly because he was the fittest.
Fit physically, with a stretching regime unrivaled in the sport’s history. Fit mentally, with the ability to compartmentalize his life into segments and to make all those segments work together. Fit emotionally, with a child-like love of a game that is so taxing, it sucks the life out of most major league stars.
He was a marvel, a player with 1,278 hits in Japan before he signed with the Mariners in 2001. He was already 27 years old when he crossed the Pacific to conquer Seattle. And conquer it he did, becoming a fan favorite almost immediately as the M’s went from good to dominant, winning an MLB-record-tying 116 regular-season games his first year.
He was better than Cobb. Better than Pete Rose, who eclipsed all of Cobb’s hit records. And in 2004, Ichiro showed he was better than anyone who ever stepped into a batter’s box with the goal of getting a hit. In other words, everyone.
It was that year Ichiro hunted down George Sisler’s ancient and overlooked record of 257 hits in a season – all why Seattle suffered through an awful year. He finished that season with 262, setting a record that will probably last well into the next century.
When Ichiro finally retired in 2019, he was 45 years old. He had 3,089 hits in the U.S. and 4,367 in the two leagues. That total was greater than Pete Rose’s MLB record (4,256), more than Cobb’s long-standing record (as I memorized it, 4,191 but revamped to 4,189 in 1981 after intensive research), more than anyone who played. And yet, despite his numbers, despite his as-powerful-as-anyone-ever throwing arm that garnered 10 Gold Gloves, despite his exemplary off-the-field life, it was obvious he wasn’t going to accomplish something Cobb or Rose did not do.
He wasn’t going into the Hall of Fame as a unanimous choice of the voters. He fell one vote short.
Cobb was part of the Hall’s first class, in 1936, joining four other all-time greats. Babe Ruth, Walter Johnson, Christy Mathewson and Honus Wagner. The Tiger outfielder, who retired with more records than anyone ever, was named on all but four ballots, earning 98.23 percent of the 226 votes cast. It was the highest percentage of votes earned until 1992.
Why wasn’t Cobb unanimous? Mainly because his personality was so oft-putting. He alienated opponents, teammates and, most importantly in 1936, sports writers, at every turn. Much the same could be said of Ruth, who received 215 votes. Whatever the reason, a precedent was set.
Not until Mariano Rivera – the best relief pitcher of all time, sure, but still someone who pitched just 1,283.2 innings in 19 years – earned all 425 votes in 2019 was the precedent broken. But there still has yet to be a position player shatter the barrier.
Not Cobb. Not Rose, who never had a chance after being banned due to betting on games while the Reds’ manager. No one. Not even Ichiro.
Will it happen? Maybe not. Or maybe someone might surprise. It could be Albert Pujols in 2027, though the failure of his Angels’ tenure might trump his 703 home runs, 2,218 runs batted in, 3,284 hits and a lifetime OPS of .918 in 22 years. Great but a little short of Ruthian. And the Babe wasn’t a unanimous choice.
Neither was Ichiro.
You and I may have known it was coming. But it still feels wrong somehow.
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WSU: Anyone who follows Cougar basketball know David Riley’s first season as men’s coach has been stunted a bit by injuries. The big one? Cedric Coward, out for the rest of the season. But another key player lost, Isaiah Watts (to a hand injury), has cost the Cougs’ their best outside shooter since mid-December. Greg Woods has a preview of this weekend’s key West Coast Conference games and an update on Watt’s progress back. … Elsewhere in the (current, old and future) Pac-12 and the nation, Jon Wilner feels the College Football Playoff’s 12-team format may need a few tweaks, sure, but it accomplished just about everything everyone expected – and some that weren’t. … Wilner also rates the top CFP games all-time in the Mercury News, as well as ranking the teams for next season. … There are other rankings as well. … Yes, college athletics are in flux. Will the new administration try to help the schools wrestle back more control over the players? … Washington will play the defending national titlist next season. It’s not the first time. … California has attracted another transfer quarterback, former Ohio State backup Devin Brown. … Oregon finished third in the A.P. final poll. … Colorado finished 25th. … Arizona State had its best poll finish since 1996. … A returning defensive back is excited about his new Arizona teammates. … Among the future Pac-12 members in the Mountain West, as new Fresno State coach Matt Entz talked about the future, former coach Jeff Tedford talked about the past. … Colorado State is still trying to finish off a new defensive staff. … In basketball news, 15th-ranked Oregon handled the Washington men easily in Eugene, winning 82-71. … For Oregon State to reach its goals, the defense has to get back to what it was earlier. … San Diego State is at Air Force tonight. … Colorado State and Boise State also meet. … Utah State is hosting Nevada.
Gonzaga: This has been an odd season thus far for the Zag women. Despite having to replace 80% of the starting lineup, Lisa Fortier’s team was picked to win the WCC title again. Injuries struck early, though, and GU struggled in the nonconference. Besides, with the addition of Washington State and Oregon State, the conference was much improved. And yet, halfway through the schedule, the Zags are tied with WSU atop the standings with a 7-2 record. Greg Lee’s weekly notebook looks at that and a few other items from around the area.
EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, no matter what you think about the changes in college sports, it is still a good thing to follow and support. … Speaking of changes, the Montana State athletic director had a few things to say yesterday.
Preps: The Gonzaga Prep and Mt. Spokane boys came into Tuesday’s game at Prep tied atop the GSL’s 4A/3A standings. Neither had a league loss. Dave Nichols was there and he has this coverage of the Bullpups’ 61-43 win that gave them control of the league race. … Dave also has a roundup of other GSL games. … There is not a roundup of the smaller schools’ games, but you can find scores here.
Whitworth: After losing twice in their first six conference games, the Pirate men needed a home win over Northwest Conference-leading Whitman on Tuesday night. Thanks to Garrett Long’s 22 points and some clutch play down the stretch, they got it, 69-64.
Chiefs: Dave returns with the definitive story on new Spokane star Andrew Cristall, who arrived earlier this month from the Kelowna Rockets.
Seahawks: The NFL’s version of the Final Four is this weekend. The four quarterbacks all have similar games. … The Hawks have interviewed a few offensive coordinator candidates more than once. … The secondary is going to always be a key part of Mike Macdonald’s defense. … This is a key offseason.
Mariners: We decided to link most of the Ichiro stories in our column above. Except this Mike Vorel column in the Times about the lack of unanimity. … The M’s picked up another reliever.
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• As a youth, I tried to hit like Ty Cobb, even holding my hands a little apart one season. As a teenager, Pete Rose was my gold standard, with a dirty uniform my calling card. Notice something similar about those two? Yep, I was singles hitter just like them. But a slow singles hitter. That’s not a Hall of Fame combination. Until later …