Ichiro Suzuki was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote, narrowly missing the 100% achieved by Mariano Rivera. This article delves into Ichiro's impressive career, the history of unanimous Hall of Fame votes, and the voting process itself.
Published: Jan. 25, 2025, 2:09 p.m. Ichiro Suzuki addressed reporters during a press conference Thursday in Cooperstown, New York, following his election to the Hall of Fame. Qualified members of the Baseball Writers Association of America cast 394 votes for the players on this year’s ballot. Ichiro was named on 393 of them. He gained entry to Cooperstown with 99.7% of the vote.
The single voter who didn’t vote for Suzuki prevented him from joining Yankee closer Mariano Rivera as the second player in history to receive 100% of the vote. In respect to full disclosure, it wasn’t me. I voted for Ichiro, the marvelous left-handed hitting outfielder from Japan, who played so well for 19 years in the big leagues. On Thursday at a press conference at Cooperstown with fellow inductees CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, Ichiro, through a translator, said, “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. I would like to invite him over to my house, and we’ll have a drink together, and we’ll have a good chat.”The identity of the writer has not been revealed and may never be. BBWAA members who vote for the Hall of Fame have to be in the association for 10 years. They have the option of making their ballots public. The public ballots for this election will be released by the Hall of Fame on Feb. 4. In 2016 the BBWAA voted to make all its ballots public, but the Hall of Fame board of directors rejected that proposal. In 2024, 81% of the 385 writers who cast ballots made them public. This is the second time in six years that a player has been denied 100% of the vote by one writer. Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter received 396 of the 397 votes cast in 2020. When he was inducted into Cooperstown in 2021 — the ceremony was delayed a year by COVID-19 — Jeter in his acceptance speech said, “Thank you to the baseball writers, all but one of you, who voted for me.”To have close to 400 people totally agree on one thing is not easy. Until Rivera went 425 for 425 in 2019, no player had walked through the doors of Cooperstown by a unanimous decree. That list includes Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb from the inaugural class of 1936. Shockingly, 11 voters left the Bambino off their ballot. Cobb was left off of two ballots. The vote has gone that way down through the decades. The definition of the perfect ballplayer varies from one person to another. Besides Rivera, Jeter and Ichiro, here are the closest players to come to a unanimous vote: Ken Griffey Jr. 99.3%, Tom Seaver 98.8%, Nolan Ryan 98.8%, Cal Ripken Jr. 98.5%, Cobb 98.2%, Brett 98.2% and Hank Aaron 97.7%. What matters in the end is being inducted. Wagner, who made it in his 10th and final year of eligibility, didn’t care about one writer leaving him off the ballot. He just wanted to get the required 75% of the vote, and he did much better than that at 82.5%.Sabathia, who pitched his first eight years for the Indians, earned 86.8% of the vote. More importantly, he was a first ballot selection. There is a pecking order among the best of the best and first-ballot inductees go to the head of the class.Nine-time All-Star, eight 100-RBI seasons, seven 100-run season, three-time Gold Glove winner. Received 70.3% of the vote this year. Candidacy has been hurt by his part in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal in 2017.Threw a no-hitter and a perfect game. Pitched 14 seasons in which he threw at least 200 innings. Helped the White Sox win the 2005 World Series. Five-time All-Star.Nine-time Gold Glove winner. Drove in 90 or more runs nine times. Hit 20 or more home runs in 11 different seasons. Five-time All-Star.Won 10 Gold Gloves for his play in center field. Hit 20 or more homers in 10 different seasons. Drove in 100 or more runs five times. Hit 10 postseason home runs.AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in consecutive seasons for Boston. Two-time World Series champ. Career cut short by injuries.Pitcher for 16 seasons, ranking sixth all-time in saves with 437. Saved 30 or more games eight times. Helped the Angels win the World Series in 2002.Won 251 games. Six-time All-Star and a Cy Young winner for Cleveland in 2007. Registered 3,093 strikeouts, third most by a left-hander. Helped the Yankees win the World Series in 2009.Won 10 Gold Gloves and went to 10 All-Star Games. Had 200 or more hits for 10 straight seasons. Won two batting titles and finished his career with 3,089 hits. Stole 20 or more bases 13 times.Played 24 seasons and won 11 Gold Gloves. He’s the all-time leader in defensive games at shortstop and has the highest fielding percentage at the position. He recorded 2,877 hits and stole 404 bases.Pitched 16 seasons and ranks eighth with 422 saves. Recorded 12 seasons with 20 or more saves, including nine seasons with 30 or more saves. His WHIP (walks + hits / by innings pitched) of
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