Ichiro Suzuki’s Hall of Fame entry leaves media searching for ‘numb’

Everyone was asking the same question after the Baseball Hall of Fame class of 2025 was revealed Tuesday:

Who is the only person who didn’t vote for Ichiro Suzuki?

The Japanese superstar more than made the cut for Cooperstown’s consecration – along with former Yankees great CC Sabathia and former Mets closer Billy Wagner – with just one vote short of unanimous decision.

Ichiro played 19 seasons in MLB after arriving in the United States in 2001, instantly becoming a fan favorite en route to Rookie of the Year, MVP, Gold Glove and Silver Slugger honors in his first season with the Mariners.

He went on to collect 3,089 hits, 1,420 runs, 509 stolen bases, 10 Gold Gloves, two batting titles, 10 All-Star selections and set an MLB single-season record with 262 hits in 2004.

In total, he received 393 of the 394 potential votes to enter the Hall of Fame.

Sportswriters, insiders and analysts have made no secret of their disdain for the still anonymous 394th voter.

“Ichiro missed unanimity by one vote,” wrote the Post’s Jon Heyman on X. “Please move on, you moron.”

ESPN NFL analyst Damien Woody shared his feelings about the first player of Japanese descent to be inducted into Cooperstown.

“Who was the idiot who didn’t vote for Ichiro?” » asked the ex-Jets star in an article on X.

Like everyone else, “Underdog MLB” podcaster Jared Carrabis was upset.

“I don’t know how you could be a Hall of Fame voter looking at Ichiro’s body of work and saying, ‘Yeah, I just don’t see it,'” he said. he declared.

Fox Sports analyst Ben Verlander called for action — at least from the yet-to-be-named voter.

“Ichiro missed being a unanimous Hall of Famer by 1 vote,” he wrote. “Get out of yourself. Who didn’t vote for Ichiro? And why?

Longtime ESPN insider Buster Olney was perhaps more diplomatic — even if he, too, was baffled.

“It will be interesting to see if the person who did not vote for Ichiro is transparent in the reasoning behind this decision,” he wrote.