If you didn’t vote for Ichiro Suzuki, please stand up.
The Japanese baseball superstar who was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame earlier this week had a message for the Baseball Writers Association of America member who didn’t give him their vote: Let’s get a drink.
Suzuki missed out on being voted into the Hall unanimously because one person left the longtime Mariners outfielder off of their ballot.
While many baseball observers expressed surprise and anger over that voter denying Suzuki the chance to be voted in unanimously, the 2001 American League MVP was more forgiving when speaking to reporters at an event held at Cooperstown on Thursday.
“I was able to receive many votes from the writers, and I’m grateful for them, but there was one writer that I wasn’t able to get a vote from,” Ichiro said through an interpreter. “I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together, and we’ll have a good chat. Very grateful to be here and thank you.”
The comment elicited chuckles from Suzuki’s fellow class of 2025 inductees Billy Wagner and CC Sabathia.
The identity of the lone BBWA voter who did not vote for Suzuki has yet to be revealed.
Suzuki received 99.7 percent of the vote to make it into the Hall of Fame, which would have made him only the second player to be unanimously inducted into Cooperstown.
The outfielder spent 19 years in major league baseball — 14 of them in Seattle.
In his three years in The Bronx after a trade in 2012, Suzuki hit .281 with 84 RBIs and 49 stolen bases.
Suzuki, a 10-time All-star, finished his stateside career with 3,089 hits.
