Members of the baseball community continue to share reactions of shock, disappointment and anger related to the fact that Seattle Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki ended up one vote shy of becoming the second player in history to be unanimously elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Fellow Hall of Famer and former New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter, named on all but one ballot back in 2020, knows a little about what Suzuki experienced this week.
“A lot of players have been unbelievable that are in the Hall of Fame and haven’t gotten 100% of the vote,” Jeter recently told Ryan Morik of Fox News. “I never expected it, and I would never sit here and say everyone should’ve voted for me or everyone should have voted for Ichiro. The only thing I do think is fair is that I think a lot of members of the media want athletes to be responsible and accountable; I think they should do the same thing. I get asked this question. I get tired of being asked this question, and I think they should answer it.”
As of late Friday morning, NBC News’ Kimmy Yam reported that the identity of the lone individual who didn’t vote for Ichiro was unknown.
The MLB website notes that Ichiro’s 4,367 professional hits, including his time in Japan, remain the most of any player in baseball history. A 10-time MLB All-Star, Ichiro earned 10 Gold Glove Awards and was named the 2001 American League Rookie of the Year and the 2001 AL Most Valuable Player. Aside from the numerous stats that show he deserved to be a unanimous Hall of Fame inductee, Ichiro will forever be credited for paving the way for future Japanese stars to follow in his footsteps.
Per Alex Rubinson of The Associated Press, Ichiro laughed about the single Hall of Fame snub during an event on Thursday.
“There’s one writer that I wasn’t able to get a vote from,” Ichiro said through a translator. “I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together and we’ll have a good chat.”
Iconic Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the only player to be a unanimous Hall of Fame selection.
