Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he is much more than that at home in Japan. Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride — like Shohei Ohtani now — and his fame across the Pacific was therapeutic as the national economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades.

NEW YORK – There’s nothing new to my 2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, except the pleasure of voting for first-time eligibles Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia. Of the 28 players appearing on this year’s ballot, I checked six boxes. Ichiro, with his all-around brilliance, ought to be unanimous.

The Seattle Mariners all-time hit king and owner of several MLB and NPB records received the first of what's likely to be two different Hall of Fame inductions earlier this week.

To this point, only famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera has been elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously — not Babe Ruth, not Hank Aaron, not Ken Griffey Jr. nor Derek Jeter, just Rivera. Could Suzuki be the second?

It’s tempting to say Ichiro Suzuki, with his detached sense of cool, record-breaking hitting prowess and 28 seasons of excellence on both sides of the globe, was made for the Baseball Hall of Fame. Probably more accurate to say the Hall of Fame was made for him.

Baseball Hall of Fame class will be announced Tuesday, and Ichiro is certain to get the call. Will he also have the honor of a unanimous vote?

Ichiro has appeared on all 163 public ballots (44.4% of total). Sabathia (93.1%), Wagner (85.1%) and Beltran (80.5%) are above the 80% threshold needed for induction. Hernandez has appeared on 24.7% of ballots.

Next summer’s Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony could have a Yankees’ flavor with right fielder Ichiro Suzuki and pitcher CC Sabathia tracking to be voted in with ease as first-year candidates, and outfielder Carlos Beltran also above the necessary 75 percent threshold.

Ichiro Suzuki, who had a total of 4,367 hits between Japan and the United States, was announced as one of the newest members of the J

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he's much more than that in Japan. Back home, he's a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan's economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.