Derek Jeter, Sadaharu Oh and Hideki Matsui were among many to offer their praises Tuesday after former Seattle Mariners outfielder
Ichiro Suzuki came up one vote shy of becoming the second player to be unanimously voted into the Hall of Fame, prompting a social media uproar.
Ichiro Suzuki was among the few Japanese players who transitioned well from Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball to Major League Baseball.
Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter reacted to his former teammate Ichiro Suzuki’s Hall of Fame induction.
On the day that CC Sabathia and Ichiro Suzuki were elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, Yankees Aaron Judge and Derek Jeter offered their congratulations.
Baseball Hall of Fame class will include five players. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner will join Dick Allen and Dave Parker in Cooperstown this summer, the BB
Ichiro began his MLB odyssey in 2001 with the Mariners, already a seasoned professional at the age of 27, and quickly became one of the game’s biggest stars with the Mariners.
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
Hank Aaron once told me his election into the Hall of Fame was the “greatest thrill I had in baseball” and the “greatest thing that ever happened to me as an individual.” Not once did he mention that nine voters left him off the ballot.
Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.
Whoever left Ichiro deserves all of the ire coming their way, but they’ll never get it. It’s just like the lone voter who left Derek Jeter off of their ballot five years ago. We still don’t know who did that and that’s Derek freakin’ Jeter, guys. If we’re not finding out who did it for him, then we’re certainly not finding out for Ichiro.