Ichiro Suzuki receives 99.7% of the votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame 2025

Ichiro Suzuki receives 99.7% of the votes for the Baseball Hall of Fame 2025

The Ichiro Suzuki, highly valued in Japan and the USA, now has its permanent place in the Hall of Fame of the Baseball in Cooperstown, New York. The 51-year-old Suzuki wrote history by being the first Japanese player to be included in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

first -class choice

In his first year of voting rights, Suzuki received impressive 99.7% of the votes, only one voice was missing for a unanimous choice. So Mariano Rivera, the closer of the New York Yankees, remains the only player who was chosen with 100% of the vote.

an important year

In this election class, Suzuki is honored together with the Starting Pitcher CC Sabathia and the Closer Billy Wagner. They were elected by the baseball Writers ’Association of America and thus enter the footsteps of the Classic Baseball Era Committee honors, which are posthumously awarded to the deceased Dick Allen and Dave Parker. The introductory ceremony will take place on July 27th.

from Japan to the MLB

Before Shohei Ohtani draws attention, it was Suzuki who fascinated both Japan and the USA. He made his debut in the MLB in 2001 as an outfield at the Seattle Mariners. While pitchers like Hideo Nomo had already played in the USA, Suzuki set new standards as the first Japanese position Player who signed a major League club.

success in the field

Suzuki quickly became a star and achieved immediate success. He won both the Al Most Valuable Player Award and the Al Rookie of the Year Award. In his first season he led the American League with a stroke of .350 and reached the peak values throughout the MLB with 242 hits and 56 stolen bases.

records and awards

In 2004 Suzuki set a record for most hits in a single season with 262 hits and secured his second trial title with an average of .372. In addition, he showed extraordinary performance in defense by winning the first of a total of 10 consecutive gold glove awards in his rookie year. Between 2001 and 2010 he was also selected 10 times as a all-star.

an impressive career

The first player who achieved 10 consecutive seasons with over 200 hits was Suzuki 2016 the 30th player who entered the prestigious 3,000 hits club. At the end of his career, he had a total of 3,089 hits in the MLB and resigned in 2019 after 19 seasons. His combined statistics from MLB and Japan show that with 4,367 hits he achieved most in the history of baseball, which puts him in front of the deceased Pete Rose (4,256 hits in the MLB). In addition to a career stroke average of .311, he also steel 509 bases.

The other honors

career statistics by Sabathia and Wagner

Sabathia, 44 years old, has a record of 251 wins and 161 defeats as well as an Earned Run Average (ERA) of 3.74. He achieved 3,093 strikeouts and won the Al Cy Young Award in 2007 during his time at Cleveland. He also led the Yankees to the World Championship title 2009. The 53-year-old Billy Wagner, who completed his 10-year eligibility this year, received 82.5% of the vote. Wagner gets impressive 422 Saves at an ERA of 2.31.

election procedure for the Hall of Fame

players are elected to the Hall of Fame if they are listed on at least 75% of the votes of the BBWAA members entitled to vote. With the 394 votes in the 2025 election, the candidates had to receive at least 296 votes to be elected.