Seattle Mariners Legend Ichiro Suzuki Inducted to Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
On Tuesday, the Seattle Mariners and fans will find out if Ichiro Suzuki will be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Or more accurately, whether or not Suzuki will be a unanimous selection.
It's all but guaranteed that Suzuki will join the game's elite of the elite in the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. The only thing really in question is whether or not Suzuki will be the second player in the history of the game to receive 100% of the vote. Pitcher Mariano Rivera was the other.
But before the 2025 Hall of Fame class is revealed on Tuesday, Suzuki received another honor by being inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame at an event held this week in Tokyo.
Congratulations to Ichiro on his induction to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame this week!
— JapanBall (@JapanBall) January 19, 2025
He received 92.6% of the vote, becoming just the seventh player to enter the hall on their first ballot.
Next stop, Cooperstown! pic.twitter.com/ygTPHPsUys
Suzuki received 92.6% of the vote and was inducted alongside players Hitoki Iwase, Masayuki Kakefu and umpire Hiroya Tomizawa.
Before coming to the states and joining Seattle in 2001, Suzuki played nine seasons with the Orix BlueWave. The organization has since merged with the Osaka Kinetsu Buffaloes and has become the Orix Buffaloes.
While with the BlueWave, Suzuki had a career batting average of .353 with 529 RBIs, 118 home runs and 199 stolen bases.
6/12/1993
— Gaijin Baseball/外国人野球 (@GaijinBaseball) January 19, 2025
At a countryside Kansai Derby game in Nagaoka, Buffaloes ace Hideo Nomo is taking a shutout into the 8th inning
Then a 19 year old kid who came into the game batting around .100 spoiled it by hitting the first homer of his career
His name? Ichiro Suzuki pic.twitter.com/MFVaw1OKDD
Across his time in Japan and the major leagues, Suzuki owns the all-time record for hits by a professional baseball player with 4.367. His .353 career batting average in Japan is a record for a Nippon Professional Baseball player. He also owns the NPB record for hits in a single season (210 in 1994) and won three consecutive Pacific League MVP awards from 1994-96.
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