Ichiro voted into Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame
Ichiro Suzuki, the iconic outfielder who starred for the Orix BlueWave before embarking on a career in the major leagues, led the Class of 2025 into the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame on Thursday.
Ichiro was voted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility and will be inducted alongside former players Hitoki Iwase and Masayuki Kakefu and former Central League umpire Hiroya Tomizawa.
Ichiro is widely expected to hear his name again when the results of the voting for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in the United States are revealed next week. He amassed 3,089 hits during his MLB career.
While many have wondered if Ichiro will be a unanimous selection in the U.S. Hall of Fame, he fell short of the mark in Japan, receiving 323 out of 349 votes. Ichiro garnered 92.6% of the vote to easily clear the 75% threshold.
Before his move to MLB, Ichiro spent nine seasons with the BlueWave, who merged with the Kintetsu Buffaloes after the 2004 season to become the Orix Buffaloes, recording 1,278 hits and leaving the team with a .353 average in 3,619 at-bats.
The superstar player finished his pro career with 4,367 hits between his time in NPB and MLB.
Ichiro won three straight Pacific League MVP awards (1994 to 1996) and was seven-time batting champion.
In 1995, the year of the Great Hanshin Earthquake, he helped lead the BlueWave, who were based in Kobe, where the quake struck, to the Pacific League pennant. The team won the crown again in 1996 and went on to defeat the Yomiuri Giants in the Japan Series.
Ichiro was Orix’s fourth pick in the 1991 draft. He was used sparingly in his first two seasons, with just 83 games played.
He became a star in 1994, the same year BlueWave manager Akira Ogi suggested he wear “Ichiro” on the back of his uniform instead of “Suzuki.”
Ichiro became the first Japanese player to eclipse 200 hits that season with 210, which stood as the single-season record until it was broken by the Hanshin Tigers’ Matt Murton, who finished with 214 hits in 2010.