With 52 returning Hall of Famers on hand, Suzuki paid homage to his new baseball home in Cooperstown and his adoring fans by delivering his 18-minute speech in English.

Dave Parker, who died a month before he was to be inducted, and Dick Allen got into the Hall posthumously after being voted in by the classics committee.

Suzuki referened the lone writer who did not give him a Hall of Fame vote, saying that a previous invitation to dinner had now "expired."