Ichiro becomes first Asian player inducted into Hall of Fame

Ichiro Suzuki is heading to Cooperstown. On Tuesday night, the former Seattle Mariners outfielder became the first Asian player to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Unfortunately, the usual mention fell short of being the unanimous choice, receiving 393 out of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter also fell short of consensus in 2020 by one vote. Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only player named on every ballot. To be admitted to the Hall of Fame, a player needs to receive 75% of the total votes cast.

This time, 28 candidates were on the ballot, 3 of whom received enough votes About to join. Joining Ichiro in Cooperstown are CC Sabathia, a pitcher who spent a 19-year career with the Cleveland Indians, Milwaukee Brewers and Yankees; Billy Wagner, who pitched for Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves for 16 seasons. Dick Allen and Dave Parker also won election in December through the Classic Baseball Era Committee process. The induction ceremony for the five players will be held on July 27, 2025.

Ichiro Falls just shy of Hall of Fame voting

There is no doubt that Ichiro is inducted into the Hall of Fame. The only question is whether there will be agreement. Some fans took to X to express how frustrated they were that this wasn’t the case. “Why wasn’t Ichiro Suzuki unanimously elected to the Hall of Fame? He joined MLB at 27 and still had 3,000 hits. That’s crazy,” Wrote a user. other Tweet“Ichiro missed out on unanimous election to the Hall of Fame by one vote. A guy needs to step up and explain himself. That’s not cool.”

Before Shohei Ohtani, Ichiro was widely regarded as Japan’s greatest ever sporting export. In November 2000, he signed with the Seattle Mariners and received the famous No. 51 jersey previously worn by Randy Johnson. The Japanese man penned a letter to the legendary pitcher, promising not to let the number come to shame. A batsman like him? This was never a possibility. In his first season, eponymous The phenomenon became the first player since Jackie Robinson in 1949 to lead the league in both batting average (.350) and stolen bases (56). However, this is just the beginning.

In 2004, he received death threats while trying to break George Sisler’s 1984 single-season hit record. He reached 200 hits in 10 consecutive seasons, the longest such streak in the league. Major League Baseball. Combining his hit totals in Japan and the United States, he finished with more hits than any player in Top Baseball history. of 4,367. More than 3,000 of those hits came from the majors. Debate has raged over how close he could come to matching Pete Rose’s MLB record had he started out in the United States.

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