Ichiro Suzuki — transcendent, universal, singular — is now a Hall of Famer.
On Tuesday, the Japanese outfielder was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote, joining CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner in the Class of 2025. Suzuki, who spent 14 of his 19 MLB seasons with the Seattle Mariners, is Japan’s first Baseball Hall of Famer.
He is, undeniably, a deserving character.
Few players in baseball history have commanded such respect, garnered such attention, enjoyed such adoration and fostered such infinite wonder. Suzuki, at his sparkling best, was an experience unlike any other. Playing in an era dominated by muscular brutes aiming for the fences, Ichiro drove defiantly against the grain.
“Chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me,” he told The New York Times in 2009. “I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique. I’d rather impress the chicks with my technique than with my brute strength.
“Then, every now and then, just to show I can do that, too, I might flirt a little by hitting one out.”
With a bat in his hands, Ichiro was a craftsman, an artist, a surgeon, a throwback. Singles, not home runs, paid his bills, filled his soul and made his name. For him, the game appeared to move in slow motion. Able to manipulate his barrel to any corner of the strike zone and well beyond it, he was a perplexing, infuriating opponent. His approach to hitting — controlled, considered, graceful — was unparalleled in its time. What’s more, Ichiro had style, panache, an unmistakable coolness to his flow that made him an icon to millions of ball fans beyond the Pacific Northwest.
Suzuki’s statistical accomplishments, too, are staggering. Despite making his MLB debut at the relatively advanced age of 27, the spindly outfielder compiled 3,089 hits, stole 509 bases, scored 1,420 runs and retired with a career .311 batting average. He retains the all-time record for base hits in a single season — 262 in 2004 — a record unlikely to be broken. Since 1930, no other player has surpassed 240.
During his 19-year career, Suzuki delivered a whopping 10 200-hit seasons, tied for most all-time with Pete Rose. Baseball’s current singles artiste, Luis Arraez, has just two. And of course, Ichiro’s 4,367 combined hits between MLB and NPB top Rose’s stateside-only tally of 4,256, making Ichiro, for some, the true Hit King.
Broadly speaking, Suzuki’s impact on the game has proven immense, immeasurable,…