Ichiro Suzuki was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, falling just one vote short of being a unanimous selection. The 2025 class also includes CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Dick Allen, and Dave Parker.
While Mariano Rivera remains the only player to be unanimously voted in by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Ichiro joins Derek Jeter as the inductees who were one vote shy of achieving that honor. Suzuki received 393 out of 394 votes, which he mentioned during his Hall of Fame news conference in Cooperstown.
“I’ve been coming to the Hall of Fame as a player seven times, and this is my eighth time here in the Hall of Fame, and what an honor it is for me to be here as a Hall of Famer,” Ichiro said through an interpreter. “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. I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together, and we’ll have a good chat.”
Ichiro will now join the list of great players who narrowly missed being unanimous selections, such as Ken Griffey Jr., Ty Cobb, and Cal Ripken Jr. In addition to his Hall of Fame induction, the Seattle Mariners announced that they will retire Ichiro’s No. 51 on August 9 in honor of the Japanese superstar.