Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs Ichiro Suzuki became a Hall of Famer in his native country on Thursday, but the 51-year-old former outfielder was not a unanimous selection.One of the best to ever do it 🇯🇵⚾ Congratulations to Ichiro on being selected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in Tokyo! 史上最高と言える選手の一人🇯🇵⚾ イチロー選手、日本野球殿堂入りおめでとうございます pic.twitter.com/5xInl5CDqQ— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) January 16, 2025
Longtime Japanese baseball reporter Jim Allen, writing on jballallen.com, noted that Suzuki became the seventh player ever inducted to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame inducted on the first try.More news: Dodgers Pitcher Reveals Details of His Recruiting Call With Roki SasakiHowever, 26 voters cast ballots without including Suzuki, giving him only 92.6 percent support in his only appearance on the Japanese ballot.By contrast, Suzuki is also on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, for which 163 known ballots have been cast so far. Suzuki’s name has been included on every ballot, according to Ryan Thibodeaux’s online tracker.
TOKYO, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 23: Ichiro Suzuki appears prior to the WBSC Premier12 Super Round game between Chinese Taipei and Japan at Tokyo Dome on November 23, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Suzuki was chosen to…
TOKYO, JAPAN – NOVEMBER 23: Ichiro Suzuki appears prior to the WBSC Premier12 Super Round game between Chinese Taipei and Japan at Tokyo Dome on November 23, 2024 in Tokyo, Japan. Suzuki was chosen to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday.
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As Allen explains:No player has ever been a unanimous selection in Japan, largely because the eligibility was so badly handled for most of the hall’s history. … This is not an indictment of those 26 voters who didn’t support Ichiro. Ichiro was going to go in without a struggle, and there are many deserving candidates on the ballot, and for a short time I toyed with the idea of not voting for him in order to give that vote to another deserving but under-supported player.— Jim AllenSuzuki was 27 when he made his major league debut with the Seattle Mariners in 2001. That year, he was chosen American League Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player, in addition to winning Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards and making the first of his 10 career All-Star teams.More news: MLB Power Rankings: Top 10 Third BasemenIn 19 major league seasons, Suzuki collected 3,089 hits, batted .311 and played his final game at age 45.From 1992-2000, Suzuki played in Nippon Professional Baseball for the Orix Blue Wave, hitting .353 and adding 1,278 hits to his career total — a record 4,367 between the two continents.More news: Bob Uecker Dies: MLB World Remembers Legendary Announcer, Actor, CatcherSuzuki’s impact on the Mariners was dramatic. The team jumped from 91 wins in 2000 to 116 in 2001, still an MLB record. Although a handful of Japanese-born pitchers had paved the way for their countrymen to excel on the mound, Suzuki was the first Japanese-born position player to make a notable impact in North America.Unanimous or not, Suzuki is expected to be an easy first-ballot Hall of Famer when the Cooperstown Class of 2025 is unveiled on Tuesday. Only one player, longtime New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, has ever been named on every ballot.For more MLB news, visit Newsweek Sports.
