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There's always one guy. Or, in the case of the Baseball Hall of Fame, there's been “one guy” twice, first for Derek Jeter and now for Ichiro Suzuki.
Like Jeter in 2020, Ichiro came one vote shy of unanimous induction in his first year on the ballot. The voter responsible has not been revealed.
Ichiro, who played most of his 19-year career with the Seattle Mariners, finished with 3,089 hits and led the American League in hits seven times in his first 10 seasons. The baseball world was, understandably, abuzz when it was revealed that someone left Ichiro of their ballot.
“Ichiro missed unanimity by 1 vote. Please step forward, you numbskull,” Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote via X.
MLB Network's Jared Carrabis added, “Not sure how you could be a Hall of Fame voter looking at Ichiro’s body of work and be like, “Yeah, I just don’t see it.”
WNBA writer Myles Erlich summed it up by calling for the offending voter to have his or her vote taken away.
“Voting for an honor like this in any sports league is a privilege, and you should be required to show your work,” he wrote. “Disgraceful main character energy from the one person who kept Ichiro from 100 percent. I’d want to see their rationale, and then I’d love to see their vote stripped.”
Those outside of the media didn't have to be quite as restrained. A search for “Ichiro” on X reveals a slew of f-bombs and other colorful language hurled at the anonymous voter.
“Ichiro not being a unanimous HOFer is a crock of s—,” wrote one fan.
“Absolutely ridiculous. Flat out attention seeking losers,” another added.
“Ego at its finest,” a third wrote. “Ichiro misses becoming the first position player to be a unanimous selection to the Hall of Fame by ONE vote. Give me a freakin break.”
