After having oh-so-narrowly missed a unanimous Baseball Hall of Fame selection, legendary outfielder Ichiro Suzuki had a message for the sole journalist who didn’t vote for him.
Ichiro, who was elected to the hall in Cooperstown, New York, with 99.7% of the vote, addressed the journalist during a news conference on his election Thursday, extending a friendly invitation. So far, the identity of the writer is unknown.
“I was able to receive many votes from the writers, and grateful for them,” the 10-time All-Star said through his longtime translator, Allen Turner. “But there was one writer that I wasn’t able to get a vote from. I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together and have a good chat.”
Ichiro, who spent most of his 19 seasons in Major League Baseball with the Seattle Mariners, joins starting pitcher CC Sabathia and relief pitcher Billy Wagner as part of the Hall of Fame’s class of 2025.
The elections are decided by the members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. With his collection of accolades and records that span 10 Gold Glove awards, three Silver Slugger awards and two American League batting titles, many baseball fans had assumed that Ichiro would easily clinch 100% of the vote. But one out of the 394 votes cast appeared to disagree.
Since the voting results were revealed Tuesday, social media has been aflame with angry fans, including some demanding to sniff out the identity of the one voter.
Ichiro, who is the first Asian player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame, is now among a long list of accomplished greats who narrowly missed a unanimous selection. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter, who was inducted into the historic hall in 2020, also fell short with one vote. And fellow Mariners great Ken Griffey Jr., who was inducted in 2016, was robbed of the distinction by three votes.
Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only member of the Hall of Fame to receive a unanimous vote, in 2019.
