Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous selection, and he’ll be joined in the Class of 2025 by starting pitcher CC Sabathia and closer Billy Wagner.
Suzuki, who got 393 of 394 votes in balloting of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, would have joined Yankees great Mariano Rivera (2019) as the only unanimous selections. Instead, Suzuki’s 99.746% of the vote is second only to Derek Jeter‘s 99.748% (396 of 397 ballots cast in 2020) as the highest plurality for a position player in Hall of Fame voting, per the BBWAA.
“I don’t think anybody in this whole world thought that I’d be a Hall of Famer,” Suzuki said. “As a baseball player, this is the highest honor you can achieve.”
Suzuki collected 2,542 of his 3,089 career hits as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Before that, he collected 1,278 hits in the Nippon Professional Baseball league in Japan, giving him more overall hits (4,367) than Pete Rose, MLB’s all-time leader.
Suzuki did not debut in MLB until he was 27 years old, but he exploded on the scene in 2001 by winning Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in his first season, leading Seattle to a record-tying 116 regular-season wins.
“Ichiro is truly one of a kind,” Mariners president Jerry Dipoto said in a statement. “His commitment, legendary work ethic, physical endurance, mental toughness, attention to detail and passion for the game are all on a different level.”
The Mariners on Tuesday said that they would retire Suzuki’s No. 51 on Aug. 9, making him just the team’s third player — along with Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez — to have his jersey retired.
Suzuki was a two-time American League batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with the Mariners, Yankees and Marlins.
An exacting player with a legendary workout routine — one he still follows five years after his retirement — the apex of Suzuki’s career was 2004, when he hit a career-high .372 in winning one of his two American League batting titles. In the process, he had an MLB-record 262 hits, breaking the single-season mark set by George Sisler in 1920.
While Suzuki wasn’t the first player to successfully move from Japan to the majors, his impact presaged baseball’s current era with Yu Darvish and Shohei Ohtani — some of the game’s biggest stars — following his path.
“There was a time when I didn’t even get a chance to play in the MLB,” Suzuki told MLB Network. “So what an honor it is to be for me to be here and be a Hall of Famer.”
Suzuki and Sabathia finished first and second in 2001 voting for AL Rookie of the Year and later were teammates for two seasons with the Yankees.
“It’s pretty cool to be a rookie that same year in 2001, battle [Suzuki] for so many years, eventually be a teammate of his,” Sabathia said. “It’s exciting. When you’re around him, you know you’re in the presence of a Hall of Famer.”
Sabathia, who was 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA, also was on the ballot for the first time, and he earned 86.8% of the vote. He was the 2007 AL Cy Young winner while with Cleveland, won a World Series title with the Yankees in 2009 and was a six-time All-Star selection over 19 seasons that included a stop with Milwaukee.
His 3,093 career strikeouts make him one of 19 members of the 3,000-strikeout club, and he ranks third among left-handers on that list, behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton.
Perhaps one of the last true workhorse-type starters headed for Cooperstown, Sabathia prided himself on taking the ball. Never was that more evident than in 2008, when during his stint with Milwaukee, he frequently threw on three days’ rest while going 11-2 with a 1.65 ERA in helping the Brewers snap a 26-year postseason drought.
That stretch run preceded Sabathia’s first foray into free agency. He signed with the Yankees and donned the pinstripes for his last 11 seasons.
He has said his Hall plaque will feature a Yankees cap.
“The first time I walked into the plaque room, I almost cried,” Sabathia said about the first time he entered the Cooperstown corridor in which his image will now be permanently enshrined. “I had no idea. I think current players should go to the Hall of Fame. It’s so inspiring.”
Wagner’s 422 career saves — 225 of which came with the Houston Astros — are the eighth most in big league history. In an era of strikeouts, few pitchers have been better at racking them up. Only four hurlers have a higher strikeout rate than Wagner (33.2%, minimum 750 innings).
His selection comes in his 10th and final appearance on the BBWAA ballot, earning 82.5% for the seven-time All-Star. He became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever — the first left-hander among them — after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Rivera.
Wagner was 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA for the Astros (1995-2003), Phillies (2004-05), the Mets (2006-09), Red Sox (2009) and Braves (2010). His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings are the most among pitchers with at least 900 innings, though his 903 career innings are the fewest among Hall of Famers.
According to Wagner, who pitched at tiny Ferrum College, he’s also the first Division III pitcher to make it to Cooperstown.
“Everything I’ve been able to do is such a blessing,” Wagner said. “Those are things that are meaningful, so you carry a lot of that on your back.”
A native of Virginia, the emotional Wagner broke down several times during his post-announcement television interview as he marveled over his journey from humble beginnings. A hard-throwing southpaw, Wagner famously began throwing with his left hand only because his right arm was broken while playing football.
Now he’s a Hall of Famer.
“It’s not been an easy 10 years,” Wagner said of his wait, noting he’s not a patient person before cracking a joke.
“I didn’t blow a save during the last 10 years, maybe that had an input on being able to get in.”
The three electees will join Dick Allen and Dave Parker, who were selected by the Contemporary Baseball Era Committee in December, in being honored at the induction ceremony July 27 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, New York.
Just falling short in the balloting was outfielder Carlos Beltran, who was named on 70.3% of ballots, shy of the 75% threshold necessary for election.
Beltran won 1999 AL Rookie of the Year honors while with Kansas City. He went on to make nine All-Star teams and become one of five players in history with at least 400 homers and 300 stolen bases.
A key member and clubhouse leader of the controversial 2017 World Series champion Astros, whose legacy was tainted by a sign-stealing scandal, Beltran’s selection would have boded well for other members of that squad who will be under consideration in the years to come.
Also coming up short was 10-time Gold Glove outfielder Andruw Jones, who was named on 66.2% of the ballots. Jones saw an uptick from last year’s total (61.6%) and still has two more years of ballot eligibility remaining.
PED-associated players on the ballot didn’t make much headway in the balloting. Alex Rodriguez finished with 37.1%, while Manny Ramirez was at 34.3%.
Players comprise 278 of 351 elected Hall of Famers, including 142 on the BBWAA ballot, of which 62 were elected in their first year of eligibility.
Carlos González, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramírez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Zobrist will be dropped from future ballots after receiving less than 5%.
Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp join the ballot next year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
