When Ichiro Suzuki waved to the crowd and jogged in from right field at Tokyo Dome in his final moments as a major league player, there was no doubt his next stop was the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
When his name appeared on the ballot for the first time, the only question was whether the iconic, trailblazing Japanese outfielder would be a unanimous selection.
Ichiro, who rose to global superstardom with the Seattle Mariners, was elected to the Hall of Fame in his first year on the ballot, but fell one vote short of becoming the second player voted in unanimously. Former New York Yankees reliever Mariano Rivera became the first player voted in unanimously in 2019.
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