Tag / Ichiro Suzuki

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Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders



The Hall of Fame Class of 2026, featuring hitters Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones, and Jeff Kent, gets enshrined in Cooperstown today.  I’ve seen the three new Hall of Famers play live a combined 64 times, so let’s check back in with the leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2025.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 35
Frank Thomas 15
Scott Rolen 7
David Ortiz 6
Vladimir Guerrero 6
Andruw Jones 6

Hits

Name Total
Jim Thome 110
Frank Thomas 54
Joe Mauer 43
Ken Griffey Jr 32
Fred McGriff 28

Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 82
Frank Thomas 42
Andruw Jones 20
Joe Mauer 19
David Ortiz 16

RBI

Name Total
Jim Thome 84
Frank Thomas 38
Fred McGriff 23
David Ortiz 19
Continue reading →
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Mariners All Time Leaders – Through 2025

marinersTo paraphrase from a famous movie, the one constant through all the years has been baseball.  As we head into 2026, we continue our look at the all-time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. Today, we take a deeper dive into the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners began life in 1977, joining the American League along with the Toronto Blue Jays to settle a lawsuit over the Pilots move to Milwaukee.  I’ve seen 306 players wearing the Mariners uniform during the 46 games I’ve attended live, including the final night game at the original Comiskey Park, the first two games of their sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 ALDS, and a visit to T-Mobile Park in 2023.

Home Runs

Name Total
Kyle Seager 6
Franklin Gutierrez 3
Richie Sexson 3
Cal Raleigh 3

Hits

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 19
Kyle Seager 18
Michael Saunders 12

Runs

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 8
Raul Ibanez 6
Kyle Seager 6
Mitch Haniger 6
J.P. Crawford 6

RBI

Name Total
Kyle Seager 11
Mike Cameron 8
Alvin Davis 7
Mitch Haniger 7
Cal Raleigh 7

Doubles

Name Total
Michael Saunders 3
Mitch Haniger 3
9 tied with 2

Triples Continue reading →

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2026 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Newcomers

Last Monday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2026, with the results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 20th, and induction taking place July 26th.  With CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, and Billy Wagner as the electees last year, the new ballot contains fifteen holdovers along with a dozen newcomers.

On Wednesday, we looked at the returning candidates.  Today, it’s time to look at the newcomers, all of whom saw their last MLB action during the weirdness that was the 2020 season, and see who may be thankful come January.

Ryan Braun

The long-time Brewer had a fine career, minus his 2013 suspension for PEDs, but has no real shot at enshrinement.

Shin-Soo Choo

Choo left MLB as the record holder for most career home runs hit by an Asian-born player, but that isn’t going to get him much support.

Edwin Encarnación

424 career home runs was good, but good enough to push him over the top.

Gio González

A perfectly serviceable pitcher who has no real chance of getting a vote, let alone sticking around for a second election.

Alex Gordon

Again, not likely to get much support.

Cole Hamels

The 2008 World Series MVP will need to buy a ticket if he wants to get into the Hall.

Matt Kemp

A perfectly decent career, just not one that leads to enshrinement.

Howie Kendrick Continue reading →

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2026 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Holdovers

Monday, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2026.  The results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 20th, with induction taking place July 26th.  CC Sabathia, Ichiro Suzuki, and Billy Wagner were elected in last year’s voting, leaving fifteen holdovers along with another twelve newcomers.

Today, let’s take a look at the fifteen returning candidates.

Bobby Abreu
Years on ballot: 6
2025 Percentage: 19.5

A slight increase for Abreu, who has a long way to go and not a lot of time to do it.

Carlos Beltran
Years on ballot: 3
2025 Percentage: 70.3

A big bump in his third go-around for Beltran means the “punishment” for his role in the Astros cheating scandal might just be about to come to an end.

Mark Buehrle
Years on ballot: 5
2025 Percentage: 11.4

Buehrle keeps bouncing up and down but lives to fight another day in his uphill climb to make it to Cooperstown.

Felix Hernandez
Years on ballot: 1
2025 Percentage: 20.6

A decent debut for Hernandez, who dominated but didn’t put up the traditional numbers and flamed out rather young.

Torii Hunter
Years on ballot: 5
2025 Percentage: 5.1

A big decrease left Hunter barely remaining on the ballot for another year.

Andruw Jones
Years on ballot: 8
2025 Percentage: 66.2

Jones keeps trending in the right direction but only has two elections left to make up the remaining 9%.

Dustin Pedroia
Years on ballot: 1
2025 Percentage: 11.9

A nice debut for Pedroia, but he has a long way to go if he’s going to make it to Cooperstown.

Andy Pettitte
Years on ballot: 7
2025 Percentage: 27.9

Continue reading →

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Hall Of Fame Batting Leaders



The Hall of Fame Class of 2025, featuring hitters Ichiro Suzuki, Dick Allen, and Dave Parker, gets enshrined in Cooperstown today.  Though I’ve only seen one of the three new Hall of Famers play live, let’s check back in with the leaders on the offensive side of the ball amongst Hall of Famers for all of the games I’ve attended between 1984 and 2024.

Home Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 35
Frank Thomas 15
Scott Rolen 7
David Ortiz 6
Vladimir Guerrero 6

Hits

Name Total
Jim Thome 110
Frank Thomas 54
Joe Mauer 43
Ken Griffey Jr 32
Fred McGriff 28

Runs

Name Total
Jim Thome 82
Frank Thomas 42
Joe Mauer 19
David Ortiz 16
Scott Rolen 14

RBI

Name Total
Jim Thome 84
Frank Thomas 38
Fred McGriff 23
David Ortiz 19
Continue reading →
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A New Class Of Imortals

With temperatures hovering around four degrees Tuesday night in the hamlet of Cooperstown, New York, the attention of the baseball world turns to summer of the past now that the votes have been tallied, and the 2025 Hall of Fame class is complete.  Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia, and Billy Wagner join Dick Allen and Dave Parker, who were elected by the Veteran’s Committee last month, in obtaining baseball immortality.  Suzuki and Sabathia make it on their first try while Wagner made it in his final shot.

Just two others scored greater than 50% of the vote, led by Carlos Beltran, who came just short at 70.3% and seems likely to make it next year.  Andruw Jones rose to 66.2% with two more years to go.

On the local front, Manny Ramirez, who spent a little more than a month with the White Sox at the tail end of his career, saw a small increase in support, finishing with 34.3% of the vote thanks to his multiple PED suspensions.  Jimmy Rollins, who spent the final 41 games of his career on the south side, picked up 18% in his fourth go-around.  The disgraced Omar Vizquel, accused of both sexual abuse of an autistic teen and spousal abuse since being added to the ballot, stayed stagnant with 17.8%.    Mark Buehrle saw a small increase, going up to 11.4% in his fifth time on the ballot, living to fight another day.  Former Cubs Carlos González, Fernando Rodney, and Ben Zobrist nabbed a single vote between them.

Ten players will fall off the ballot after failing to score 5% of the vote.

As for the newest Hall of Famers, I’ve seen Suzuki play fifteen times, Sabathia eight times, and Wagner five times.  They will get their day in the sun on Sunday, July 27.

Ichiro Suzuki’s numbers in games I’ve attended were: Continue reading →

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2025 Hall Of Fame Ballot – The Newcomers

Last week, the BBWAA released their ballot for the Hall of Fame class of 2025, with the results of the vote are due to be revealed on January 21st, and induction taking place July 27th.  With Adrian Beltre, Todd Helton, and Joe Mauer as the electees last year, the new ballot contains fourteen holdovers along with another fourteen newcomers.

On Friday, we looked at the returning candidates.  Today, it’s time to look at the newcomers and see who may be thankful come January.

Carlos González

I don’t foresee a long run on the ballot for the long-time Rockie.

Curtis Granderson

Granderson was a very good player for a very long time, but I don’t see him getting any serious consideration.

Félix Hernández

Hernández looked to be a shoo-in for Cooperstown early in his career, but his last dominant season came in his age 28 season, and he was done by age 33.

Adam Jones

The Oriole standout had a nice career, but not a Hall of Fame career.

Ian Kinsler

Falling one hit shy of 2000 for his career, Kinsler will probably just get this one shot on the ballot.

Russell Martin

A four-time All Star, Martin had a very nice career but will need to purchase a ticket if he wants to see the inside of the Hall of Fame.

Brian McCann

Despite seven All Star appearances, McCann likely isn’t going to see much support

Dustin Pedroia Continue reading →

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Mariners All Time Leaders – Through 2019

marinersWith baseball shut down because of the corona virus, I thought it would be an interesting time to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams.  We continue today with the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners began life in 1977, joining the American League along with the Toronto Blue Jays. I’ve seen them play 36 times, including the final night game at the original Comiskey Park, the first 2 games of their sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 ALDS, and the home opener in 2019.

Home Runs

Name Total
Kyle Seager 6
Franklin Gutierrez 3
Richie Sexson 3

Hits

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 19
Kyle Seager 16
Michael Saunders 12

Runs

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 8
Raul Ibanez 6
Kyle Seager 6

RBI

Name Total
Kyle Seager 10
Mike Cameron 8
Alvin Davis 7

Doubles

Name Total
Michael Saunders 3
7 tied with 2

Triples Continue reading →

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Mariners All Time Leaders – Through 2015

marinersWith 3 months until baseball in Chicago returns, I thought it would be interesting to look at the all time leaders in both offensive and defensive categories for all 30 teams. We continue today with the Seattle Mariners.

The Mariners began life in 1977, joining the American League along with the Toronto Blue Jays. I’ve seen them play 30 times, including the final night game at the original Comiskey Park and the first 2 games of their sweep of the White Sox in the 2000 ALDS.

Home Runs

Name Total
Kyle Seager 4
Franklin Gutierrez 3
Richie Sexson 3

Hits

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 19
Michael Saunders 12
Raul Ibanez 11

Runs

Name Total
Ichiro Suzuki 8
Raul Ibanez 6
Michael Saunders 5
Jose Lopez 5

RBI

Name Total
Kyle Seager 8
Mike Cameron 8
Alvin Davis 7

Doubles

Name Total
Michael Saunders 3
6 tied with 2

Triples Continue reading →

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Franchise Four – AL West

Major League Baseball is asking its fans to vote for the four most impactful players who best represent the history of each franchise.  The winners will be announced in July at the All Star Game in Cincinnati.  Today, I will give my Franchise Four picks for the American League West.

F4Astros

The Astros, around since 1962, have 2 obvious options, and both are from their World Series team in 2005: Craig Biggio and Jeff Bagwell.  After that, there is a bit of a drop off.  Nolan Ryan would seem to be a good pick for the third slot, having spent more years with the Astros than with any other team.  For the last slot, I’ll go with J. R. Richard, whose career was cut short due to a stroke, but still came to represent the franchise in the late 70s.

F4Angels

Despite existing since the 1961 season, the Angels have a complete lack of star power in their 8 nominees.  Garret Anderson?  Tim Salmon?  Brian Downing?  While fine players, none of them would be confused with an all time great.  Of the remaining 5, I will dump Jim Fregosi and take Chuck Finley, Nolan Ryan (again!), Vladamir Guerrero, and, despite being in only his 4th season, Mike Trout.

F4As

Continue reading →