Baseball legend Ichiro Suzuki isn’t overlooking the fact a single voter prevented him from becoming the second unanimous Hall of Fame inductee in the sport’s history.
Suzuki, who was inducted Tuesday but fell just one vote shy of being unanimous, said during a press conference Thursday he wants to meet with the one person who voted against him.
“I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together and have a good chat,” Suzuki said via a translator.
Suzuki would have joined legendary New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera as the only other unanimous Hall of Fame inductee in MLB history.
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Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki tosses a ball to the dugout before throwing out the first pitch for a game against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park. (Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports)
News that Suzuki was a vote shy of being unanimous prompted widespread outrage from fans and media pundets on social media in the hours after the announcement.
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Former Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki speaks during his induction to the Mariners Hall of Fame before a game between the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Guardians at T-Mobile Park. (Steven Bisig/USA Today Sports)
Suzuki is the first player from Japan to be inducted.
Suzuki moved to Major League Baseball from Japan as a 27-year-old in 2001 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in the same season. Suzuki was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with the Seattle Mariners (2001-12, 2018-19), the New York Yankees (2012-14) and Miami Marlins (2015-17).
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Ichiro Suzuki before a game between the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Cardinals at T-Mobile Park April 21, 2023, in Seattle. (Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Suzuki is perhaps the best contact hitter in baseball history with 1,278 hits in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB. His combined total of 4,367 is higher than Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256. Suzuki had a record 262 hits in 2004.
CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner join Suzuki in the 2025 Hall of Fame class.
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