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Ichiro Suzuki was a brilliant player throughout his 19-year career in Major League Baseball. He became the first Japanese-born player to enter the Hall of Fame Sunday, and he flawlessly delivered his acceptance speech in English. He displayed his humility, warmth and sense of humor throughout his talk.
Ichiro had always used an interpreter throughout his career when he was interviewed by the media before and after games. However, his speech showed that he understood many of the subtleties of the language and the American culture. The crowd of fans at the Cooperstown, New York shrine and the Hall of Fame members in attendance thoroughly enjoyed the former Mariner's delivery.
Ichiro was named on every Hall of Fame ballot with the exception of one unnamed voter. After Ichiro found out that he had not been a unanimous selection — relief pitcher Mariano Rivera of the New York Yankees is the only Hall of Famer who was voted in unanimously — he issued an invitation to the voter to have dinner with him. The voter never identified himself and Ichiro referred to the voter in his speech.
“The offer to the one writer to have dinner at my home has now expired!” Suzuki said. The remark drew major laughs from the audience.
Ichiro has late start to his big league career
Ichiro had dominated Japanese baseball before he came to North America to play with the Seattle Mariners. Instead of an adjustment period when he came to the United States at the age of 27, he dominated from the start of his first season in 2001.
He batted a league-leading .350 as a rookie with 242 hits, 69 runs batted in, 127 runs scored and a league-leading 56 stolen bases. Ichiro earned the MVP award for his performance.
He would have at least 208 hits in each of his first 10 seasons and he would set the record for most hits in a season when he had 262 hits in the 2004 season.
Ichiro played with the Mariners for 14 seasons and he also had 3-year stints with the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins. He spoke about his love for the Mariners organization and he also acknowledged that it was a privilege to play for an organization that had the tradition of the Yankees.
While he made a joke at the expense of the Marlins — “I didn't even know they existed” — he also brought up that his Miami teammates celebrated by joining him on the field when he eclipsed the 3,000-hit mark.
Throughout his career, Ichiro had 3,089 hits, a career .311 batting average and 1,420 runs scored. Ichiro was a 10-time All-Star, a 3-time Silver Slugger and a 10-time Gold Glove winner.
