In my business, that knee-jerk response comes in handy. Fending off blame is a survival skill. A columnist knows he can’t fight a tidal wave of angry emails and social-media posts and, at some point, gives up trying to argue he is not, in fact, a nitwit. From there, it’s a short hop to a renunciation of any personal responsibility.

Of course I voted for Ichiro Suzuki - along with the other no-brainers on the ballot, including CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. Pity that Carlos Beltran came up short again, and that Andruw Jones is still stuck in no man’s land.

Willie McGee won the National League MVP or the 1985 season, in which he hit just 10 home runs. McGee also batted .353. Vince Coleman scored 107 runs that season, and he had more than three times as many stolen bases (110) as he had extra-base hits (31). The leading home run hitter on the team, Jack Clark, hit just 22 homers.

Mariners' Ichiro Suzuki fell one vote short from becoming a unanimous inductee into the Hall of Fame and just wants to grab a drink with the writer.

The Japanese superstar more than made the cut for Cooperstown enshrinement — along with ex-Yankees great CC Sabathia and former Mets closer Billy Wagner — coming up just one vote short

There was no surprise when it was announced that Ichiro Suzuki would enter the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. What was a surprise, though, was that one baseball writer didn’t think Ichiro deserved first-ballot consideration.

Seattle Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki became the newest member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Ichiro was voted into Cooperstown in his first year of eligibility, and appeared on 393 of 394 ballots.

Former Seattle Mariners infielder Alex Rodriguez took to "X" to congratulate Ichiro Suzuki and share a funny story about his former teammate.

Seattle Mariners legend and Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki tries to hold back his tears after his team announced his jersey retirement.

Ichiro Suzuki said he wants to meet with the one person who voted against his induction into the Hall of Fame after he fell one vote shy of being unanimous.

BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell recalled Suzuki was at the Hall in 2001 when he called to inform the Seattle star he had been voted AL Rookie of the Year. Suzuki received 27 of 28 first-place votes, all but one from an Ohio writer who selected Sabathia.

Players are elected to the Hall of Fame provided they are named on at least 75% of ballots cast by eligible voting members of the BBWAA. With 394 ballots submitted in the 2025 election, candidates needed to receive 296 votes to be elected.