Spoiler Alert: Ichiro hit Twins pitching
A few weeks ago, the doors of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY swung wide to accommodate its 2025 class—Ichiro Suzuki, Billy Wagner, & C.C. Sabathia from the BBWA voting; Dick Allen & Dave Parker from the Veterans Committee.
Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images
A few musings on each, plus stats against the Twins over their esteemed careers…
Ichiro Suzuki
Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images
Ichiro is a top five all-time player in my—and apparently not just my—history of MLB-watching, both from an on-field and fan enjoyment perspective. He came along at the perfect time—height of the Steroid Era—to showcase his far more nuanced skillset of precise bat control, immaculate base running, & impeccable defense. I’ll never forget watching from my college dorm room as he broke the great George Sisler’s mark of hits recorded in a single season.
Against the Minnesota Twins, Suzuki was all of that: 119 G, 530 PA, 166 H, 8 3B, .333 BA, .777 OPS. Not much power—though legend has it he routinely put on Mark McGwire-like BP displays—but just a base hit machine.
Billy Wagner
Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images
I’m really glad Wagner got the Hall call after a few years of ascending vote totals. If not quite in Mariano Rivera or Trevor Hoffman territory, Wags was just a half step below—with a sparkling 0.998 career WHIP to prove it. Sadly, he only advanced past the AL/NL Divisional Series once in his 16-year career—so nationwide exposure did not abound. Even so, he is almost certainly the best southpaw save-er in baseball history.
Billy the Kid matched up with MIN sparingly—just 7.2 IP. But of course he racked up 10 K to 1 BB with 0 ER & 4 SV.
C.C. Sabathia
Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/Getty Images
Major league pitchers who can claim the moniker of “workhorse” are now down to a select few—of which C.C. Sabathia was undoubtedly one. Over a 19-year career, Carston Charles averaged 34 starts and 217 innings pitched per 162 games. His 2008 second half with the Milwaukee Brewers must be placed amongst the greatest short-term pitching stretches of all-time: 17 GS, 11-2, 130.2 IP, 7 CG, 3 SHO, 1.65 ERA, 1.00 WHIP.
Long stints in Cleveland & New York gave Sabathia plenty of opportunities to challenge Twins lumber—and prove mostly successful: 40 GS, 266.1 IP, 20-10, 3.24 ERA, 4 CG, 2 SHO, 1.22 WHIP. In what essentially could be viewed as one single season of starts against MN, C.C. was a Cy Young Award contender.
Dick Allen
Richie Allen played far before my time, so others will have to help me out with his baseball resume. A .912 career OPS certainly stands out. As a mostly-NL guy but for a 3-year tenure with the White Sox, Allen hit .295 with a .803 OPS in 152 PA against the Twins.
Dave Parker
Set Number: X41949
Again, a lot of help needed here from those 10-20 moons older than my 39 years. A career 120 OPS+ speaks to consistent above-average batting prowess, plus power (339 long balls). As a Pirate or Red for most of his career, Parker only came to the plate 188 times (as an Athletic, Angel, or Blue Jay) versus MIN—hitting .271 with a .699 OPS.