Unanimously, well, just one vote shy, Ichiro Suzuki was elected to the Hall of Fame. Without any doubts, he had a fantastic career. His professional baseball journey began in Japan and in 2001, he moved to the United States. In his great career in the majors, Ichiro spent 19 seasons in the majors, hitting .311/.355/.402 with 117 home runs, 780 RBI and 509 stolen bases.
On the day of the Hall of Fame voting results announced, there were a lot of videos and interviews about Ichiro’s career. Additionally, I saw a highlight, which showed Ichiro’s great moment when he collected the 3000th hit of his career. It was on August 7, 2016. Back then, Ichiro was playing for the Marlins.
After Ichiro collected the 3000th hit, his teammates came to congratulate him. Several names look familiar and I began to check the starting lineup of the Marlins that day.
Looking at the Marlins lineup on that day, there are several names worth mentioning. Dee Strange-Gordon played 11 seasons in the majors and collected 1118 hits. Strange-Gordon also played with Ichiro in his last game in Tokyo in 2019. Moreover, Martin Prado spent 14 seasons in the majors and had 1542 hits in his career.
In addition, in the heart of the order, there are MVPs. Christian Yelich has 1500+ hits, 200+ home runs and 700+ RBI so far in his career. Yelich won the 2018 NL MVP award. Furthermore, Giancarlo Stanton has played 15 seasons in the majors. He already blasted 400+ home runs and collected 1100+ RBI. Stanton was the 2017 NL MVP award winner.
Meanwhile, Derek Dietrich played 8 seasons in the majors. Jeff Mathis played 17 seasons in the majors and Adeiny Hechavarria spent 9 years in the majors.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning that Marcell Ozuna and J.T. Realmuto both came into the game to pinch-hit that day. Marcell Ozuna has played in the majors for 12 seasons. He already blasted 200+ home runs and collected 800+ RBI. At the same time, J.T. Realmuto has played 11 seasons in the majors with 100+ home runs and 600+ RBI.
Looking back at the game on August 7, 2016, the spotlight was on Ichiro Suzuki because he officially joined the 3000-hit club. However, looking at the Marlins lineup that day, it’s quite interesting. 2 players in that lineup become MVP award winners. Christian Yelich now has 1500+ hits and 700+ RBI so far in his career. Perhaps we will see him finish his career with 2000+ hits and 1000+ RBI. Moreover, Giancarlo Stanton already joined the 1000-RBI club and he’s on the way to join the 500-home run club. In the meantime, J.T. Realmuto is a good catcher in the majors. Well, his numbers might not look as impressive as Yelich or Stanton. Nonetheless, looking at the stats of Joe Mauer, who was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2024, things might be interesting. Mauer played 15 seasons in the majors, collecting 2123 hits, 143 home runs and 923 RBI. Realmuto already smashed more home runs than Mauer did and let’s see if he will collect more RBI than Mauer did in his career. So, Ichiro will make his speech in Cooperstown in July. Will any other players from that lineup of the Marlins make it someday?
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