Asian Players

[bluesky5]

Should MLB appoint a special committee to induct players who spent the entirety or most of their careers in Asian baseball leagues?

[Honus Wagner Rules]

I don't think there is enough interest or "outrage", for a lack of a better term, to create such a committee. I think an Asian baseball exhibit at the HoF would nice, though.

[Nerdlinger]

Should MLB appoint a special committee to induct players who spent the entirety or most of their careers in Asian baseball leagues?

I don't see it as necessary. It wouldn't be terrible if they did, but their priority should most certainly be on addressing the dozens of MLB players who currently deserve enshrinement. After all, it's not like baseball players living in Asian countries faced segregation from the American majors due to racial discrimination like blacks in the US did, so there's no past "wrong" to right as there is with Negro Leaguers. Besides that, the Asian leagues have their own Halls, into which MLB players are not inducted (understandably so). As such, there's no real reason to reciprocate.

[jalbright]

It's not a priority now. Maybe after Ichiro gets enshrined, there may be more interest. I'm confident that some day, there will be some stronger connections with Japan, and that will give an impetus to considering Asian players. But that day is not here yet.

[jjpm74]

Should MLB appoint a special committee to induct players who spent the entirety or most of their careers in Asian baseball leagues?

No. Never...

I support Ichiro for the HOF only because he was a superstar here as well as in Japan. A HOF that includes players who never stepped foot in the U.S would be a joke and a mockery of the HOF and I would definitely pull any funding my family gives to the NBHoFM if this ever happened and I know that I am not alone on this.

The closest and only compromise I would support is additions as pioneers of the game or as a completely separate entity within the museum.

[Nerdlinger]

No. Never...

I support Ichiro for the HOF only because he was a superstar here as well as in Japan. A HOF that includes players who never stepped foot in the U.S would be a joke and a mockery of the HOF and I would definitely pull any funding my family gives to the NBHoFM if this ever happened and I know that I am not alone on this.

The closest and only compromise I would support is additions as pioneers of the game or as a completely separate entity within the museum.

While I don't support the idea either, this seems a rather extreme position to take. I know it's not the International HOF, but the voters (the VC in particular) have already made a mockery of the HOF, so adding a guy like Oh wouldn't be much worse than a guy like Tommy McCarthy.

[chicagowhitesox1173]

I think it's fine the way it is now.

[Honus Wagner Rules]

On a side note, will Ichiro give his HoF induction speech in English? I was under the impression that Ichiro doesn't speak much English.

[Cowtipper]

On a side note, will Ichiro give his HoF induction speech in English? I was under the impression that Ichiro doesn't speak much English.

He speaks it pretty well if this video is any indication:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtImIqR5neU

[jalbright]

No. Never...

I support Ichiro for the HOF only because he was a superstar here as well as in Japan. A HOF that includes players who never stepped foot in the U.S would be a joke and a mockery of the HOF and I would definitely pull any funding my family gives to the NBHoFM if this ever happened and I know that I am not alone on this.

The closest and only compromise I would support is additions as pioneers of the game or as a completely separate entity within the museum.

And if in the future, NPB and MLB merged or at least played a championship series between their champions or took some NPB teams to expand into Japan, this would not change your mind? I'm beting the powers that be in baseball would feel quite differently in that scenario. MLB wants in to the Japanese market, and NPB is going to have a hard time sustaining their current approach. There are clear and large logistical hurdles to overcome, but technological breakthroughs could certainly come which reduce them to more manageable levels. If baseball is around a century from now, I would be most surprised if some version of what I'm talking about hasn't trranspired.

[jjpm74]

And if in the future, NPB and MLB merged or at least played a championship series between their champions or took some NPB teams to expand into Japan, this would not change your mind? I'm beting the powers that be in baseball would feel quite differently in that scenario. MLB wants in to the Japanese market, and NPB is going to have a hard time sustaining their current approach. There are clear and large logistical hurdles to overcome, but technological breakthroughs could certainly come which reduce them to more manageable levels. If baseball is around a century from now, I would be most surprised if some version of what I'm talking about hasn't trranspired.

It would not change my opinion at all. The NPB players who played in the early days of Japanese baseball never played in the US and unlike the NeL was never a part of American culture outside of a few footnotes in Hank Aaron articles (S. Oh). As such, I do not see them as more than pioneers along the lines of Jim Creighton or Doc Adams.