Ichiro Suzuki received a special honor on Tuesday when he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Now, the team he spent most of his career
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
On Tuesday, the former MVP, 10-time All-Star and two-time batting champion was named among the three-player class for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner. And while there was no surprise as to Ichiro’s induction, there total vote tally was a shock.
Ichiro Suzuki has been named to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the possible vote. Here are the best reactions from around the internet.
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.
Once more, for baseball immortality, Billy Wagner closed it out. Wagner, the dominant closer who played a two-season sliver of his 16-year career with the Phillies, got elected Tuesday night to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year on the ballot.
The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.
Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia were elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, Suzuki in overwhelming fashion, while Billy Wagner made the most of his 10th and final appearance on the ballot, clearing the 75% barrier to inclusion by earning 325 of 394 votes.
Ichiro Suzuki could have been immortalized as a first-ballot Hall of Famer nearly a decade ago. He was last a full-time starter in 2012, at 38. He logged his 3,000th hit in 2016, when he was 42. Still, he made us wait three more years to celebrate his retirement.
The career .311 MLB hitter was the 2001 AL MVP and Rookie of the Year and won 10 consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards, all with the Mariners.
Ichiro Suzuki missed unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote Tuesday night when he headlined a three-player class selected by the 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.