Mariners fans upset as dissenting Ichiro voter remains anonymous after ballot release

Jan. 21 was an extremely special day for Ichiro Suzuki and the Seattle Mariners, as he was officially voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BWAA). However, there was underlying plot line which couldn't be ignored, as he fell just one vote short of becoming the second ever player to be unanimously elected, following Mariano Rivera in 2019.

Instead, Ichiro found himself in the same company as Derek Jeter — Rivera'a teammate with the New York Yankees — who also finished just one vote short of a prestigious place in baseball history. As a result, there were plenty of angry people, whether it be fellow players (former and present), the media and fans, demanding to know who had the gall not to pick the 10-time MLB All-Star, and stating that they should have their voting privileges revoked.

The mystery only deepened on Tuesday when, as per The Athletic (subscription required), the BWAA released the individual ballots of every Hall of Fame voter who elected to make their ballot public. However, the 321 voters who elected to have their ballots revealed all included Ichiro, meaning the voter who snubbed him remains a secret among the remaining 73 anonymous ballots.

Ichiro not the first Mariners player to miss out on unanimous election

A big part of the reason for the frustration surrounding this is that it would just be good to get the hold-out's rationale for why they did not select Ichiro. Although it's extremely tough to comprehend how reasonable that rationale would be, as with Jeter, and the three people who didn't pick Ken Griffey Jr. back in 2016.

Not helping with the frustration, back in 2016 the BWWA actually voted 80-19 in favor of a proposal to make all ballots public. However, as per the Associated Press, for some reason the Hall of Fame’s board of directors decided to leave the decision up to each voter, which we similarly don't understand (or more to the point appreciate and accept).

In a historical context, it's nothing new for some boneheaded individuals to attempt to play God when it comes to who does and doesn't get into the Baseball Hall of Fame. We're talking about the likes of Babe Ruth, Willie Mays and Hank Aaron, who all should have been unanimous elections into Cooperstown, but were denied.

From a Mariners perspective, it is of course frustrating that they have had two players worthy of being unanimous selections into the Baseball Hall of Fame. While this would not make up for a franchise with just five playoff appearances in 48 seasons, it sure wouldn't have hurt either.

While attending a news conference with fellow electees CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner two days after finding out, Ichiro was asked about coming up one vote short. "There’s 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."

Unfortunately for Ichiro and everyone concerned, it doesn't seem as if he will ever get the chance to sit down with the non-voter in question for that drink and chat. Truly, seriously, genuinely, it's long past time for the Baseball Hall of Fame ballots to be 100% transparent; if you're going to make what is an asinine decision to many, you should at least have the decency to stand by said decision publicly.

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