Ichiro Suzuki has made history as the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, leading the 2024 class alongside CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

Ichiro Suzuki, whose uncanny hitting talent made him a Seattle Mariners icon, became the first Japanese player elected to Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday.

Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride — like Shohei Ohtani now — and his fame across the Pacific was therapeutic as Japan's economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades.