Expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Cooperstown on Tuesday, Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride and his fame across the Pacific when he joined MLB was therapeutic for his

Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride — like Shohei Ohtani now — and his fame across the Pacific was therapeutic as Japan's economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades.

If Ichiro Suzuki misses unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, it would be by a handful of votes at most. For Carlos Beltran, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, a handful of votes may determine whether any or all of them join Suzuki as a member of the Hall of Fame Class of 2025.

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.

Tuesday is one of the holy days on the baseball calendar, the announcement of players voted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is extreme and well-earned, with just over 1% of all big leaguers making it to Cooperstown for what they did as players: 275 out of 23,370.

Ichiro Suzuki, whose outstanding play in Japanese baseball led him to international stardom in the major leagues, was inducted into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility.