It was no surprise to learn Tuesday that Ichiro Suzuki was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot. It was, however, a surprise that he fell one vote short of being a unanimous selection as part of a 2025 class that also features CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner, Dick Allen and Dave Parker.
While Mariano Rivera remains the only Hall of Famer to be voted in unanimously by the Baseball Writers Association of America, Ichiro joins Derek Jeter (2020) as the inductees who were one vote shy of joining the longtime New York Yankees closer in that elite category.