The Big Lead

Ichiro Suzuki wants to have a word with that one Hall of Fame voter

By Joe Lago

Feb 15, 2024; Peoria, AZ, USA; Former Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki looks on during a Spring Training workout at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
Feb 15, 2024; Peoria, AZ, USA; Former Seattle Mariners player Ichiro Suzuki looks on during a Spring Training workout at Peoria Sports Complex. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images / Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images
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Ichiro Suzuki is wondering like the rest of baseball and its fans: Why did one writer cast a Hall of Fame ballot without the 10-time All-Star to prevent him from becoming Cooperstown's second unanimously elected player?

The names of Hall of Fame voters are kept secret, so the controversial balloter will never be known. That is, unless the writer accepts the invitation that Suzuki extended during Thursday's Hall of Fame press conference.

RELATED: Ichiro joins Derek Jeter in exclusive Baseball Hall of Fame club

To get the answer straight from the voter, Suzuki extended an invitation to the mysterious scribe.

"This is a very special moment. I was able to receive many votes from the writers, and (I'm) grateful for them, but there's one writer that I wasn't able to get a vote from," Suzuki said through an intepreter. "I would like to invite him over to my house, and we'll have a drink together. And we'll have a good chat."

There was laughter in the room, so the voter shouldn't feel too intimidated.

Suzuki, who collected 3,089 career hits in his 19 MLB seasons and won the American League's MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in 2001 with the Seattle Mariners, received votes on 393 of the 394 ballots cast for the 2025 Hall of Fame class. New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter also fell one vote short of being a unanimous HOF selection in 2020.

Yankees closer Mariano Rivera is the only Hall of Fame player to receive every vote on the ballot. Suzuki did make history, though, as the outfielder to have the highest percentage of votes. His 99.7% tops the previous record of 99.3% for fellow Mariners great Ken Griffey Jr., who was omitted from three ballots in 2016.

What compels a Hall of Fame balloter to do the most illogical thing and deny a no-brainer, first-ballot candidate from being a unanimous selection? Only the individual in question can explain why.

Hopefully, the writer steps forward and takes up Ichiro on his offer. The wine and conversation surely would be worth the scrutiny.

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