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Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian player elected to the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame on Tuesday, when the institution announced the results of its 2025 ballot.
Ichiro, widely known by his first name, was named on 99.7 percent of the ballots cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, falling one vote short of being the hall’s second unanimous selection after former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.
“I think it (missing one vote) is a really good thing,” Ichiro told a Seattle press conference. “In life, we are able to move forward because we are imperfect.”
Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki attends a press conference in Seattle following his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 21, 2025. (Kyodo)
A recently retired player needs to be included on 75 percent of ballots to be voted into the hall. Ichiro was elected in his first year of eligibility, as was 251-win pitcher CC Sabathia. They were joined by reliever Billy Wagner, who saved 422 games and was in his final year of eligibility.
Ichiro retired in 2019 at age 45 with 3,089 hits in Major League Baseball after becoming the first position player to arrive from Japan, where he had 1,278 hits.
“This challenge started in 2001, and at that time I couldn’t conceive of my being in this position today in 2025, where my name is announced by the Hall of Fame,” Ichiro said in a televised interview.
“Back then, so many people questioned whether or not I could even play in MLB. There were those, myself included, who questioned if a Japanese position player could do it. So, what an honor it is for me to be here and to be a Hall of Famer. It’s a special day.”
Ichiro won the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year awards in his 2001 debut season with the Mariners after leading the AL with a .350 batting average and 56 stolen bases.
His second batting title came in 2004, when he hit .372 with 262 hits, breaking George Sisler’s 84-year-old single-season record of 257.
Ichiro finished with a .311 career average over 19 MLB seasons. He was also a Gold Glove winner every season from 2001 to 2010, when he logged 200-plus hits for an unprecedented 10 years in a row.
He was traded from the Mariners to the Yankees in July 2012. He also played for the Miami Marlins before spending the final two seasons of his career with the Mariners.
“Playing this game, you meet so many great people, and as you do, you grow as a person, that was the joy I got from baseball, the people I came in contact with,” Ichiro said.
Ichiro said he was eager to see former teammates who are already in the Hall of Fame at the induction ceremony in Cooperstown, New York, on July 27.
Former Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki (front, C) heads to the venue of a press conference in Seattle on Jan. 21, 2025, after it was announced earlier in the day that he had become the first Asian player to be inducted into the U.S. National Baseball Hall of Fame. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
“There are guys I see in Seattle when I’m in uniform working with players, but I’m so looking forward to being together with (Hall of Famers) Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez in Cooperstown,” he said.
Ichiro also named former Yankees teammate Derek Jeter as another he looks forward to encountering.
Two other Japanese stars have previously appeared on the Hall of Fame ballot, Hideo Nomo in 2014 and Hideki Matsui four years later. Both dropped off after failing to be named on 5 percent of the ballots.
“So many things have happened along the way, and it’s not all been good. There have been difficult times too,” Ichiro said in Seattle.
“In the end, I was getting closer to this point, step by step, and that I’ve been able to reach this day leaves me with a feeling I can’t express in words.”
BBWAA ballot results:
(Players named on at least 50% of ballots)
Ichiro Suzuki 99.7%
CC Sabathia 86.8%
Billy Wagner 82.5%
Carlos Beltran 70.3%
Andruw Jones 66.2%
Related coverage:
Baseball: Mariners to retire Ichiro Suzuki’s No. 51
Baseball: Ichiro joins Japan Hall of Fame before U.S. announcement
File photo shows Ichiro Suzuki of the Miami Marlins getting his 3,000th major league career hit with a triple in the seventh inning of a game against the Colorado Rockies in Denver on Aug. 7, 2016. (Kyodo)
File photo shows Ichiro Suzuki of the New York Yankees batting in a game against the Seattle Mariners in Seattle on July 23, 2012. (Kyodo)
File photo shows Ichiro Suzuki (facing camera) of the Seattle Mariners stealing second base in a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 16, 2006, in Toronto. (Kyodo)
File photo shows Seattle Mariners outfielder Ichiro Suzuki throwing to home plate in a game in Seattle on May 26, 2010. (Kyodo)
File photo taken in March 2018 shows Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners making a leaping catch at the wall in Seattle. (Kyodo)
File photo shows Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners acknowledging the crowd after extending his newly established major league record for single-season hits to 262 on Oct. 3, 2004, in Seattle. (Kyodo)
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