All-Star right fielder and Seattle Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2025. But even as Ichiro was awarded the honor alongside CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, it was his speech that stole the show.
Ichiro, who typically gave interviews in his native Japanese throughout his career, opted to speak in English when addressing the crowd in Cooperstown. In his speech, the outfielder shared some wisdom and dropped plenty of jokes.
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One of the best parts of Ichiro’s speech was a reference to the lone Hall of Fame voter who kept him from being a unanimous selection. At the time, Ichiro joked that he wanted to invite that writer over to “have a drink together” and “a good chat.”
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On Sunday, Ichiro listed out some of his impressive statistics, saying that the achievements were “recognized by the writers.”
“Well, all but of one of you,” he added, referencing the voter, whose identity is still unknown. “And by the way, the offer for that writer to have dinner at my home has now expired.”
During the speech Ichiro referred to himself as a “rookie” for the third time in his career, noting his origins with the Orix Buffaloes in Japan and Mariners, with whom he made his MLB debut at age 27. The outfielder mentioned some of the Hall of Famers gathered on stage for the ceremony — 52 in total.
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“I am 51 years old, so easy on the hazing,” he joked to those Hall of Famers.
The humor continued, as Ichiro also got in a good dig at the Miami Marlins, who he played for from 2015-2017.
“Honestly, when you guys called to offer me a contract for 2015, I had never heard of your team,” Ichiro said, earning a hearty laugh from the crowd.
Later, Ichiro got in a stellar, full-throttled impression of Mariners broadcast Rick Rizzs.
But much of the outfielder’s speech was very heartfelt. In between jokes, Ichiro thanked the Mariners for bringing him to the league, and thanked former pitcher Hideo Nomo, the first Japanese player to relocate to MLB, for his “courage” and for paving the way.
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Ichiro also offered some advice, speaking about his own mentality heading into the league, and learning to focus on your best self.
“If you consistently do the little things, there’s no limit to what you can achieve,” Ichiro said. “Look at me. I’m 5-11, and 170 pounds. When I came to America, many people said I was too skinny to compete with bigger major leaguers. … But I knew that if I stuck to my beliefs about preparation, I could overcome the doubts, even my own.
“I have been asked, ‘What is the best thing you can do for your team?’ My answer is, taking responsibility for yourself,” he added. “When you go home at night and wonder why you didn’t get a hit, or you didn’t make a catch, the honest answer is not because a great pitcher beat you, or the sun was in your eyes. It’s because there was something you could have done better.”
Ichiro finished the speech by saying that he had not heard of Cooperstown until he visited for the first time in 2001, and began to understand the scope of the honor.
“Being here today sure is like a fantastic dream,” Ichiro said, in conclusion.
Ichiro, Sabathia and Wagner will now be enshrined in Cooperstown, as well as Dick Allen and Dave Parker, who were voted in by the Classic Baseball Era committee.