Quote:
Originally Posted by John1941
Ichiro was an incredible player and richly deserved to be a Hall of Famer - but I really don't understand why every famous & qualified player is supposed to be elected unanimously. Ichiro and Jeter have both fallen just one vote short recently - why were they even close to being unanimously elected? They were both incredible players and richly deserve to be Hall of Famers, but they're not perfect - Jeter wasn't Honus at the plate and the defensive metrics hate him, and Ichiro didn't hit for power or walk (or get along with the media). (For context: I'm a Yankees fan & love Ichiro.)
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Why would a player need to be perfect to be unanimous? I don't understand the connection. If a player is an obvious HOFer, such as Jeter, Ripken, Mantle, Pujols, Seaver, Bench, Ichiro, they should be unanimous. For them to be not unanimous is some sports writer saying "nah, that guy isn't a Hall of Famer" when that is CLEARLY not the case. And, no, the "Well, Babe Ruth wasn't unanimous so Ichiro shouldn't be either" argument isn't valid either.