Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, and he entered through the front door on Tuesday evening, being elected with 99.7% of the votes in his first year of eligibility .
Marking Japanese history, “Ichiro” was just one vote away from becoming the second player to receive the approval of all voters after Panamanian Mariano Rivera, former reliever for the New York Yankees. However, there is obviously someone who decided to be zealous or who made a downright mistake when filling out their ballot.
“It’s an honor and it’s a special day,” Suzuki nevertheless commented during an interview with the major baseball website. I could never have imagined such a scenario when I started in North America in 2001.”
Starting pitcher CC Sabathia (86.8%), also in his first year of eligibility, and reliever Billy Wagner (82.5%) were also elected to the Hall of Fame on Tuesday evening, as they each reached the 75% of votes needed to be inducted.
Wagner, who was on his 10th and final chance, finally welcomed himself among the legends. In 2024, he came very close to being elected with 73.8%.
The 2025 vintage will also include Dave Parker and Dick Allen who, last December, were elected by the review committee.
Un impact international
About Suzuki, he breathed new life into Japanese baseball by joining the Seattle Mariners in 2001, well before the arrival of the phenomenon Shohei Ohtani. Then aged 27, “Ichiro” established himself in his first season with not only the title of rookie of the year in the American League, but also beating Jason Giambi, of the Oakland Athletics, for the title of player par excellence. Suzuki completed this initial campaign with a .350 batting average, recording 242 hits and adding 56 stolen bases along the way.
-Suzuki would do even better in 2004, still with the Mariners, with an extraordinary average of .372. His total of 262 hits that season still remains a record in major baseball history today.
Although he was preceded in North America by his Japanese compatriots Masanori Murakami and Hideo Nomo, among many others, the outfielder from Aichi Prefecture greatly contributed to internationalizing Major League Baseball (MLB).
Suzuki played 2,653 games in major league baseball, surpassing the 3,000 hit mark with 3,089. Having continued his career until the age of 45, he also played for the New York Yankees and the Miami Marlins before returning conclude with the Mariners. On defense, the outfielder notably collected 10 golden gloves.
Great careers
Having mainly played for the Cleveland Indians and the Yankees, Sabathia concluded his career with 251 regular season victories and an impressive total of 3,093 strikeouts. The Californian also has a Cy Young trophy, won in 2007 in Cleveland, and a World Series victory in 2009 with the Yankees.
In the case of Wagner, we must especially highlight his 422 saved games, including 225 in the uniform of the Houston Astros, between 1996 and 2003.
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