Ichiro, HOF 250- words.

This will be short. Ichiro should be in the Hall. He will end his career hitting over .300; he has accomplished everything in one of the worst hitting parks in baseball. He's won two batting titles in four years; he's won a gold glove every year he's been in the league. He was MVP and ROY in the same season; he's been an All-Star every year in the league- legitimately. Here's some more interesting stuff- he led the league in intentional walks twice; an idea unheard of for a non-power hitter.

He's only really comparable to a young Tony Gwynn or an older player; in Japan his career average was quite a bit higher than Gwynn's, while in MLB it will probably be lower, but not by much. Internationally, he will definitely reach 3,000 hits, though he may not in MLB.

To consider Ichiro as a non-HOFer would basically have to assume that his career falls off the table, which is unlikely. Baseball should take a clue from basketball, which is a sport proud to induct international players of quality (Drazen Petrovic, etc.) without trying to normalize their contributions with respect to one league.