Why Ichiro’s joke about the Marlins during his Hall of Fame speech caused former executive ‘PTSD’

David Samson Reacts to Ichiro’s Hall of Fame Speech

Former Marlins President David Samson appears quite attuned to how people view his franchise.

During the recent Hall of Fame speech delivered in English by Japanese greats, an incident occurred when Ichiro Suzuki made a remark about the Marlins. While the audience shared a good laugh, Samson didn’t seem to find it quite as amusing.

After acknowledging Samson and ex-Marlins executive Mike Hill who were present, Ichiro candidly stated, “To be honest, when you all called to offer a contract in 2015, I’d never heard of your team.”

Samson reflected on the moment, sharing, “When I heard my name mentioned, I felt overwhelmed with gratitude. Then came the joke about the Marlins. I thought, ‘My God, here we go again.'” In a conversation on the “Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz,” he noted how people might think the joke was serious, but it wasn’t intended that way. He mentioned that the Marlins had won the World Series back in 2003.

Samson, who was part of the Marlins organization from 2002 to 2017 under his father-in-law Jeffrey Loria, discussed why he believed Ichiro made that joke, while the ten All-Stars present remained silent.

He remarked, “I wanted to highlight the important aspects of Ichiro’s speech; it was genuinely one of the best I’ve heard during a Hall of Fame induction.” He added, “I felt a bit of PTSD since the Marlins often end up as the target of jokes, despite having two World Series titles in our history. We’ve even made the playoffs recently.”

Ichiro kicked off his MLB career with the Mariners in 2001 at the age of 27, following a successful tenure in Japan. He claimed both Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in his first season.