Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player to enter the Baseball Hall of Fame – and yet that moment came close to being an even more historic moment.
Suzuki, a first-ballot Hall of Famer without a doubt for almost everyone, was not a first-ballot Hall of Famer without a doubt for literally everyone: the longtime superstar of Mariners and former Yankee appeared on 393 of 394 ballots, losing just one vote without unanimity.
Tuesday evening, the resistance fighters had not shown up.
“As a baseball player, this is the highest honor you can get,” said Suzuki, who was not asked about the vote during a brief English-language portion of the news conference that followed the announcement, through an interpreter. “And so as a baseball player, that’s definitely the best of the best.”
Mariano Rivera remains the only player whose name was checked on every ballot. Derek Jeter also lost just one vote. Suzuki’s teammate, Ken Griffey Jr., missed 100 percent by three votes.
Whether he got a perfect grade or just an A+ was the only drama surrounding Suzuki, who was a wizard with a bat. He didn’t make it to the majors until he was 27 and still finished with over 3,000 hits in MLB.
During a 19-year career, he became the first player in history to have 10 consecutive seasons of at least 200 hits, to win 10 consecutive Gold Gloves, to appear in 10 All-Star Games and stealing 509 bases.
The Yankees traded for Suzuki in 2012, and he hit .281 in more than two years in the Bronx.
“Ichiro was an impactful player in many ways, whether he was at the plate, in the field or on the bases,” his manager at the time, Joe Girardi, said in a statement. “On the field, he was a guy you didn’t run at trying to get an extra base, and he hit balls into space that most right fielders didn’t reach. Ichiro could steal a base at any time, and he was a guy who had the ability to hit a home run, if that’s what the situation dictated. His batting skills against the ball were second to none, and when I had success against him, he was someone you worried about in the opening position – and those aren’t the guys you usually worry about.
Andruw Jones is on an upward trend but will need a late surge. In his eighth year on the ballot, the longtime Braves center fielder received 66.2 percent of the vote.
David Wright will remain on the ballot after receiving 8.1 percent of the vote in his second year of eligibility.
Curtis Granderson (0.8 percent) and Brian McCann (1.8 percent) will not remain on the ballot.
Andy Pettitte received 27.9 percent of the vote in his seventh year and Alex Rodriguez received 37.1 percent in his fourth.
2026 will be the final season on the ballot for Manny Ramirez, who received 34.3% of the vote.
There are no Hall of Famers among the newcomers on the 2026 ballot.
Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp and Hunter Pence will be eligible for the first time next year.
Hamels has the better shot after a 15-season career in which he pitched to a 3.43 ERA, reached four All-Star Games and was the World Series MVP for the 2008 champion Phillies.
A solid statistical career for Braun likely won’t end in recognition due to his ties to performance-enhancing drugs, his crusade to maintain his innocence and his subsequent confession and apology.
