Global baseball's hit king Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player elected to Major League baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday, just one vote shy of unanimous selection.

Ichiro Suzuki, the dominant contact hitter whose 19 years in the major leagues, mostly with the Seattle Mariners, became the first Asian player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Ichiro will be the first Japanese player enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame during the induction ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Players are elected to the Hall of Fame provided they are named on at least 75% of ballots cast by eligible voting members of the BBWAA. With 394 ballots submitted in the 2025 election, candidates needed to receive 296 votes to be elected.

ICHIRO SUZUKI, CC SABATHIA AND BILLY WAGNER The wait is over. For two of the three newest members, it was the shortest wait possible. For the third, the longest. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner are officially Hall of Fame-bound,

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he is much more than that at home in Japan. Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride — like Shohei Ohtani now — and his fame across the Pacific was therapeutic as the national economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades.

No, Suzuki in 2025 was one vote shy of being a unanimous Baseball Hall of Famer, joining Jeter in terms of percentage (99.7%). Jeter was inducted in 2020. The one voter who snubbed Jeter has not been revealed to this point.

Ichiro was the first Japanese position player to appear in an MLB game, and he will be the first Japanese player enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame during the induction ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y.