To the surprise of nobody, Ichiro Suzuki was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility and will be among the legends officially enshrined this summer. The induction was near unanimous, as only one voter omitted Ichiro from the ballot. That prompted a question from ESPN’s legendary college basketball announcer, Dick Vitale.
“How can anyone who is involved in the voting not vote for Ichiro?”
Vitale didn’t stop there, making his feelings well known on X.
“He should be so EMBARRASSED,” Vitale said of the voter. “Logically no way if a baseball fan u can not vote for ICHIRO.”
How can anyone who is involved in the voting not vote for ICHIRO – he should be so EMBARRASSED .Logically no way if a baseball fan u can not vote for ICHIRO . via @ESPN App https://t.co/6Jjwo9RYVc
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) January 24, 2025
Ichiro, for his part, seemed to take the lone snub well. He invited the (unknown) voter over to his house for drinks and “a good chat.”
Vitale is not wrong. It’s hard to understand how anyone could have watched Ichiro play and note vote him into the Hall of Fame. Ichiro is a 10-time MLB All-Star, won both the American League Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards in 2001, won 10 Gold Gloves, three Silver Sluggers and two American League batting championships. He also recorded 3,089 career hits including a single-season record 262 in 2004. And this is despite not debuting in MLB until 2001, when he was 27.
But as valid as the outrage is, it’s also not new.
In 2019, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera became the first player ever unanimously inducted into the Hall of Fame. So previously inducted legends like Ken Griffey Jr., Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Tom Seaver and Ted Williams — just to name a few — all had some people voting against them. Rivera’s 2019 induction seemed like it might open the door for future unanimous inductees, that has thus far not been the case. Derek Jeter’s 2020 induction, like Ichiro’s, came with one person leaving him off the ballot.
So, while Vitale’s frustration is well placed, we hope he can at least take comfort knowing that Ichiro has some incredible company.
