COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki wants to raise a glass with a voter who chose not to check his name off the Hall of Fame ballot.
“There’s one writer I couldn’t get a vote from,” he said through an interpreter Thursday, two days after receiving 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. “I’d like to invite him to my house, and we’ll drink together, and we’ll have a good chat.”
Suzuki had been inducted into the Hall seven times before attending a news conference Thursday with fellow inductees CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. The trio will be inducted on July 27, along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were voted in by the Classic Era Committee last month.
Suzuki fought to become the first player from Japan to be elected to the Hall.
“Maybe five, 10 years from now I can look back and maybe we’ll be able to say this is what it was meant to be,” he said.
BBWAA secretary-treasurer Jack O’Connell recalled that Suzuki was in the Hall in 2001 when he called the Seattle Star to tell him he had been named AL Rookie of the Year. Suzuki received 27 of 28 first-place finishes, all but one from an Ohio writer who picked Sabathia.
“He stole my rookie of the year,” Sabathia quipped.
Sabathia recalled a game on July 30, 2005 at Safeco Field. He worked with Cleveland pitching coach Carl Willis in a bullpen session on a pitch he could throw to retire Suzuki, which turned out to be a slider.
“I got two strikes on Ichi and he hit it through the window,” Sabathia said of the 428-foot drive from the second deck restaurant in right field, at the time the longest home run of Suzuki’s major league career. “Come back around to his next at-bat, throw it to him again, the first pitch he hits it again.”
Suzuki’s second home run broke a sixth-inning tie in the Mariners’ 3-2 win.
As the three discuss their favorite memories, Suzuki mentions a mock-up Hall of Fame plaque Hall made — not the design for the original — featuring his dog, Ikkyu.
“Our dog and then Bob Feller’s cat are the only animals that have a Hall of Fame plaque. That’s something I love,” Suzuki said, recalling the prank with the pitcher’s cat, Felix.
Sabathia helped the New York Yankees win the World Series in 2009 by agreeing to a seven-year, $161 million contract as a free agent. Sabathia began his major league career in Cleveland, finished the 2008 season in Milwaukee and was apprehensive about signing with the Yankees before general manager Brian Cashman agreed.
“Going into the offseason, I just heard all the stuff that was going on, the commotion in the Yankees clubhouse,” Sabathia said. “Pretty early, like two or three days into spring training, me and Andy (Petty) running in the outfield, I got to meet (Derek) Jeter, we’re hanging out, and the pitching staff, we Going to dinner, going to basketball games together, so it didn’t take long before I realized it was the right decision.
Sabathia was on 342 ballots and Wagner was on 325 (82.5%), 29 votes short of the 296 votes needed for the required 75%. While Suzuki and Sabathia were selected in their first ballot appearances, Wagner was voted in his 10th and final effort with the writers.
Even two days after learning of his selection, Wagner had tears streaming down his cheeks when he thought about going back on the call. His face turned red.
“It’s humbling,” she said, her voice shaking before she paused. “I don’t know if it’s worth it or not, but to sit for 10 years and check your career and stuff, it’s tough.”
Wagner, who is 5-foot-10, became the first left-hander primarily a reliever to be elected to the Hall. He thought of the words of 5-foot-11 right-hander Pedro Martinez, who voted for Cooperstown in 2015.
“I hope the kids around here see that there’s a chance you can make it and it’s possible, no matter what size or where you’re from,” Wagner said. “I think Pedro said it before, but if I can get here, anyone can.”
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