Feinsand: Explaining my HOF ballot (and the time I stepped on Ichiro's hand)
Mark Feinsand
@feinsandThis year¡¯s Hall of Fame election results will be revealed on Tuesday, with Ichiro Suzuki expected to glide into Cooperstown with an overwhelming amount of support.
Whether Ichiro gets in isn¡¯t even a question. The only intrigue is whether he will be the second unanimous selection in history (Mariano Rivera was the first).
If he¡¯s not, it¡¯s not my fault.
When I went to fill out my ballot this year, marking off Ichiro¡¯s name was a no-brainer. A 10-time All-Star, American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, Ichiro wowed us from the moment he came over from Japan in 2001. He finished with 3,089 hits despite not debuting in the Majors until the age of 27, collecting at least 200 hits in each of his first 10 seasons in Seattle. Oh, and he also won a Gold Glove in each of those years, impacting the game on both offense and defense.
Even as the second half of his career saw his numbers drop -- I mean, we¡¯re talking about his age-37 to age-45 seasons here -- it was always a joy to watch Ichiro hit.
I had a chance to cover him with the Yankees from 2012-14, and watching the way he prepared himself for games was fascinating. He was the ultimate creature of habit, from his stretching routines to his work in the cage, so even though I wasn¡¯t watching vintage Ichiro, it was easy to understand why he was so damn good.
My favorite personal Ichiro story happened in Boston during a 2014 Yankees-Red Sox series. The visiting clubhouse at Fenway Park is notoriously small, so when the Yankees came to town, there wasn¡¯t a lot of open space.
We were going to talk to a player near Ichiro¡¯s locker -- I can¡¯t remember who it was, but it was one of those typical ¡°How¡¯s your hamstring feeling?¡± situations -- and Ichiro was on the floor in front of his locker going through his daily stretch. We had a lot of writers on the Yankees beat back then, so as we crowded around the player¡¯s locker, the scrum extended very close to Ichiro.
I didn¡¯t realize it, but at one point during the interview, I stepped on Ichiro¡¯s hand. I realized it immediately and apologized profusely, but Ichiro wasn¡¯t going to miss an opportunity to poke some fun at a mortified reporter.
Ichiro looked up at me and deadpanned, ¡°You need to lose weight,¡± before cracking up laughing a few seconds later.
Fortunately Ichiro¡¯s hand was just fine. He went 2-for-4 with a double that night, erasing any fear I had that my misstep would land the future Hall of Famer on the injured list.
Ichiro did his interviews in Japanese, though he had full command of the English language. I might argue that he spoke better English than a lot of people who grew up in the United States. Whether he gives his induction speech in English or Japanese, I¡¯m looking forward to hearing it, as his sense of humor and insightful take on the game should make for a memorable speech.
This is my ninth time voting, and my first eight ballots have included votes for 17 players who went on to be inducted, including Adrian Beltr¨¦, Todd Helton and Joe Mauer just a year ago.
So now that you know how I went out on a limb and voted for Ichiro, let¡¯s take a look at the other nine names that comprised my 2025 Hall of Fame ballot.
Returning players
(Listed alphabetically)
Carlos Beltr¨¢n, Mark Buehrle, Andruw Jones, Andy Pettitte, Chase Utley, Billy Wagner
Throughout my time as a voter, my rule has generally been that if I vote for a player once, he stays on my ballot as long as he is eligible.
There have been a few exceptions. For instance, I took both Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez off my ballot last year after voting for both players annually, as I had other players I wanted to vote for (the Hall of Fame limits BBWAA voters to 10 spots) and neither A-Rod nor Manny appear remotely close to getting in. They felt like wasted votes, but if either of them gain traction, I would certainly consider putting them back on my ballot.
That said, checking off the names of Beltr¨¢n, Buehrle, Jones, Pettitte, Utley and Wagner were easy for me after voting for all of them a year ago. I detailed all of these choices in this space last year, so if you want to understand my rationale for voting for these players, check out this column.
New to my ballot
Pedroia might not have the gaudy career numbers that many Hall of Famers do, but the former Red Sox second baseman was highly decorated, earning AL Rookie of the Year honors in 2007, the AL MVP award in '08, four All-Star selections, three Gold Gloves and two World Series rings. He is one of only four players in history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in his first two seasons, joining Cal Ripken Jr., Ryan Howard and Kris Bryant, while Ichiro and Fred Lynn took home both awards in their rookie season.
Awards and rings are undoubtedly a part of a player¡¯s Hall of Fame r¨¦sum¨¦, but Pedroia¡¯s case is much more than that. He posted a 53.3 bWAR during his first 11 seasons before a Manny Machado slide in 2017 essentially ended Pedroia¡¯s career at age 33. He was on a Hall of Fame track to that point, but he played only nine games after 2017.
Pedroia¡¯s bWAR per 162 games of 5.6 is a half-win higher than the average Hall of Fame second baseman, and during his absolute peak, Pedroia led all second baseman with a 34.9 bWAR between 2008-13, averaging a 5.8 bWAR during that stretch.
So while Pedroia¡¯s overall numbers -- he slashed .299/.365/.439 with 140 homers, 725 RBI, 922 runs scored, 1,805 hits and a 113 OPS+ -- might not scream ¡°Hall of Famer¡± to you, he was the heart of two championship teams and arguably the best player at his position for a six- or seven-year stretch. I was covering the Yankees during Pedroia¡¯s peak years, and I can tell you that in a lineup that featured some pretty imposing hitters, he was one of the guys the Yankees feared most.
I have no reason to think that Pedroia will get elected into the Hall this year, but his case for Cooperstown is certainly intriguing enough for him to get a longer look down the road.
I hadn¡¯t voted for Rollins in any of his first three years on the ballot, though that had more to do with the 10-man rule than anything else. Had we been allowed to vote for as many players as we wanted (or even 12, for that matter), Rollins would likely have been on my ballot since he was first eligible in 2022.
Last year, I removed A-Rod and Manny to make room for three first-time eligibles in Beltr¨¦, Mauer and Utley. With Beltr¨¦ and Mauer both getting elected last year -- as well as Todd Helton, who was also on my ballot -- there were at least four open spots for me in 2025, if I decided to return the six eligible players from last year. (Gary Sheffield, who was on my ballot every year I have voted, is no longer on the ballot, which opened another spot for me.)
Rollins¡¯ case is even better than Pedroia¡¯s, in my opinion. Their trophy cases look similar, as Rollins won the 2007 NL MVP award and four Gold Gloves, earned three All-Star selections and helped guide the Phillies to back-to-back World Series appearances, winning a ring in '08.
But Rollins¡¯ career numbers easily outdo Pedroia¡¯s. Rollins finished his career as the only shortstop in history to compile more than 2,400 hits, 200 home runs, 400 stolen bases and 800 extra-base hits (h/t to the great Jayson Stark, who first brought that to my attention), and he¡¯s the Phillies¡¯ all-time hits leader.
During my time covering the Yankees, I had the good fortune of covering four players that have gone on to become Hall of Famers: Rivera, Derek Jeter, Mike Mussina and Randy Johnson. Whether I was watching them during the peak of their careers or toward the tail end, it was always special to watch them perform, knowing you were seeing some of the greatest players in the history of the game.
Ichiro will get added to that list this week, as could another player I watched quite a bit: Sabathia.
This guy was the definition of an ace. He won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award in Cleveland, carried the Brewers on his back to a playoff spot in '08, and when the Yankees signed him to a big free-agent deal before the 2009 season, he helped bring a World Series title to the Bronx in his first year.
Sabathia was the definition of a workhorse. The lefty threw 3,577 1/3 innings during his career, the most of any pitcher who has debuted since 1989. He had eight 200-inning seasons and five more with at least 180 innings, providing his teams with stability at the top of the rotation.
And he didn¡¯t just pitch a lot of innings -- he pitched a lot of great innings.
Sabathia reached a couple of milestone numbers that should help him sail into Cooperstown: 250 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. Only 15 pitchers in history have reached those two marks, with Steve Carlton and Randy Johnson representing the only other lefties in the group. The only ones not in the Hall is Roger Clemens, who would have been a first-ballot inductee if not for his association with PEDs, and Justin Verlander, who will sail into the Hall after he retires and becomes eligible.
No, Sabathia didn¡¯t reach the magical 300-win mark, but let¡¯s face it: we may never see a 300-game winner again. Sabathia¡¯s 3.74 career ERA seems high for a Hall of Famer, but he pitched in an offensive era, spent 11 seasons pitching in hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium, and his 116 ERA+ puts him firmly in Hall territory. His 61.8 bWAR ranks 10th among all left-handed starters in history.
Sabathia had five top-5 finishes in the Cy Young vote, and while he only won once, that consistency is impressive. Sabathia¡¯s peak came from 2006-12, when he had a 38.4 bWAR, second only to Hall of Famer Roy Halladay. His 140 ERA+ during that stretch matched Halladay for the best among all pitchers with at least 1,000 innings, while his 122 wins were second to Verlander (124).
That seven-year peak was among the best of his generation, as he went 122-57 with a 3.14 ERA, 29 complete games and 10 shutouts in 226 starts, averaging 227 innings per season.
While you can¡¯t quantify this, Sabathia was also the ultimate teammate. He defended his guys when someone got drilled, he set the tone for his fellow starters and was as well-liked and respected -- by teammates and opponents alike -- as any player I have ever seen.
Sabathia may have been the final true workhorse we will ever see. His ERA might not scream Hall of Fame, but he often pitched to the score; if the Yankees were up 4-0, he didn¡¯t care if he allowed three runs as long as they won. Personal stats never drove Sabathia, yet the ones he finished his 19-year career with should be more than enough for election this week.