There was no surprise when it was announced that Ichiro Suzuki would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. What was a surprise, though, was that one baseball writer didn’t think Ichiro deserved first-ballot consideration.
The 10-time All-Star and two-time batting champion recorded 99.7 percent of the voting total because, astonishingly, one person did not vote for him. Now, MLB fans were justifiably in disbelief because there wasn’t a reasonable argument against Ichiro’s resume. But instead of leading the hunt for that rogue voter, Ichiro took a different approach.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday for his Hall of Fame press conference, the former Mariners legend said via his interpreter that he would love to invite that voter over for a chat at his house.
Ichiro says he would like to have the one writer that didn’t vote him into the HOF over to his house to “have a drink together and have a good chat” pic.twitter.com/Cbi18mCMKh
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) January 23, 2025
Ichiro said that he would like to have a drink with that voter, which was a gracious approach to someone who honestly deserves to have their voting privileges revoked.
To this day, Mariano Rivera is the lone player to reach the Hall of Fame through a unanimous vote. Ichiro surely deserved to be the first position player to have that honor.
But really, you have to love that response from Ichiro. It was all class.
