Ichiro is set to become Japan's first Hall of Famer. Here's who might join him in Cooperstown
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Ichiro Suzuki could become the first Japanese player in baseball's Hall of Fame, and CC Sabathia, Billy Wagner and Carlos Beltrán also could be elected Tuesday when results of the writers' voting are announced. Anyone receiving the required 75% from the Baseball Writers' Association of America will inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown on July 27 along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, voted in last month by the classic era committee.
Suzuki could join Mariano Rivera as the only unanimous picks for Cooperstown. Rivera is the only player to get a 100% vote from the BBWAA, appearing on all 425 ballots in 2019. Derek Jeter was picked on 395 of 396 in 2020 and Ken Griffey Jr. on 437 of 440 in 2016.
Suzuki came to Major League Baseball from Japan as a 27-year-old in 2001 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in the same season. He was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001-12, 2018-19), the New York Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).
He's perhaps the best contact hitter in baseball history, with 1,278 hits in Japan's Nippon Professional baseball and 3,089 in MLB. His combined total of 4,367 is higher than Pete Rose's MLB record of 4,256. Suzuki had a record 262 hits in 2004. Sabathia was a six-time All-Star, won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 2009. He went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-19).
