MLB Insider Says that Seattle Mariners' Legend Deserves to Be Unanimous Hall of Famer in 2025
On Tuesday night, it was revealed that Adrian Beltre, Joe Mauer and Todd Helton will be going into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2024.
Now? It's time to look ahead to 2025. Billy Wagner, who just missed out this time around, will likely have continued strong support on the ballot, but he will be overshadowed by the legendary Ichiro Suzuki, who will be making his first appearance.
According to ESPN MLB Insider Buster Olney, Ichiro deserves to be a unanimous selection, joining Mariano Rivera with that distinction.
Per Olney on social media:
Ichiro deserves to be a unanimous selection for the HOF next year. Just as Griffey, Jr., Jeter, Beltre, etc. deserved it. Hopefully, that happens.
It's hard to argue with Olney's position. One of the best pure hitters in baseball history, Ichiro amassed 3,089 hits in his United States career. He was a lifetime .311 hitter who stole 509 career bases. He played in 19 major league seasons after arriving from Japan.
Ichiro won a laundry list of awards including Rookie of the Year (2001) and MVP (2001). He was a two-time batting champion, a 10-time Gold Glover, a 10-time All-Star and a three-time Silver Slugger.
He played parts of 14 seasons with the Mariners, three with the Yankees and three with the Marlins. Remarkably durable throughout his career, he never played less than 136 games in a season until age 44.
On the international circuit, he also helped Team Japan win the World Baseball Classic in 2009, a feat they replicated in 2023.
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