Ichiro elected into Baseball Hall of Fame, 1 vote shy of unanimous selection

Ichiros iconic baseball career has formally reached its historic capstone.

The Mariners all-time hits leader received the expected call Tuesday afternoon officially welcoming him to the National Baseball Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

Ichiro was the first Japanese position player to appear in an MLB game, and he will be the first Japanese player enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame during the induction ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Because of his historic achievements on the field, Ichiro was a slam-dunk candidate to earn induction into the Hall of Fame during his first year of eligibility.

The only uncertainty about Tuesdays announcement was whether he would become the first position player to earn a unanimous selection from the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Ichiro fell one vote short of that distinction.

More than half of the 400 BBWAA voters revealed their ballots before Tuesdays announcement, and all 210 of those ballots included Ichiro.

Another Mariners icon, Ken Griffey Jr., was three votes shy of an unanimity in 2016.

The identity of the three writers who did not vote for Griffey have never been revealed.

Similarly, those who did not vote for Ichiro did so anonymously.

(Voters are not required to reveal their votes.) Mariano Rivera, the Yankees legendary closer inducted in 2019, is the only player to earn a unanimous selection.

Longtime Mariners ace Felix Hernandez, also eligible for the first time this year, fell short of the necessary votes (75%) to earn induction.

Ichiro was scheduled to take part in a news conference at T-Mobile Park later Tuesday.

There has never been a player quite like Ichiro.

He was part athlete, part artist, part wizard.

He joined the Mariners in 2001 at age 27 and was greeted with skepticism about his ability to hit major-league pitching.

That skepticism evaporated quickly, and Ichiro went on to lead the majors in batting average (.350), hits (242) and stolen bases (56).

He was named the American League MVP and Rookie of the Year only the second player in MLB history to win both honors in the same season and helped lead the Mariners win to a league-record 116 wins.

In 2004, Ichiro broke the all-time season hits record with 262 a record some believe will never be broken.

From 2001 to 2010, Ichiro made 10 consecutive All-Star teams, won 10 consecutive Gold Gloves and was a fixture batting leadoff and playing right field for the Mariners for a decade.

He finished his MLB career with 3,089 hits, and when paired with his hit total in Japan (1,278), his 4,367 hits as a professional are more than any player in baseball history.

In his second stint with the Mariners, Ichiro retired at age 45, after a game in Tokyo in March 2019.

Ichiro, 51, has remained a part of the Mariners organization as a special assistant to the chairman..

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