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.

The Marlins employed Ichiro Suzuki for three of his 19 seasons in MLB; the newest Hall of Famer told a hilarious story about them during his induction speech.

Former Mariner Ichiro Suzuki makes humorous reference to the voter who snubbed him during his Hall of Fame speech

As of Ichiro’s speech, the writer who left him off the ballot, keeping him from becoming the second unanimous first ballot Hall of Famer, has remained anonymous. Mariano Rivera received a perfect 425 of 425 votes for his initial Hall of Fame bid in 2019.

The author of 4,367 hits over 28 seasons across Japan and America didn’t use an interpreter as he had during a media session on Saturday. He delivered his speech in English, and he was talking at one point about the Mariners, then the Yankees and then the next team on his 19-season major-league journey.

When Bryan Woo gets to the field every day, Ichiro Suzuki is already there. Taking batting practice. Shagging fly balls. Playing catch. He hangs around after too, offering any advice he can to the current generation of Mariners players.

“Lou Piniella was very skeptical,” said Larry Stone, a Seattle Times baseball writer who has covered Ichiro’s career extensively. “That spring training, Ichiro started off not pulling the ball, not driving the ball. And Lou was like, ‘Who is this guy? When is he going to show me something?’”