Ichiro Suzuki headlines newest Baseball Hall of Fame class; 2 others elected to Cooperstown

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The National Baseball Hall of Fame will have three more plaques this summer.

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner were all awarded the sport's highest honor Tuesday and are headed to Cooperstown.

Ichiro is the first Japanese-born player to receive Hall of Fame honors. He received 99.7% of the vote, one vote shy of becoming the second player unanimously elected. Players need at least 75% of the vote to be inducted.

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Seattle Mariners right fielder Ichiro Suzuki waves to fans after a game against the Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome. (Darren Yamashita/USA Today Sports)

Ichiro joined the majors in 2001 as a highly touted Japanese prospect, hitting .353 during his nine seasons playing in his home country, where he won three MVPs and was a seven-time All-Star. Joining the Seattle Mariners at age 28, he immediately lived up to the hype, winning the AL MVP and helping that year’s Mariners team to a record 116 wins.

From 2001 to 2010, Ichiro was named an All-Star in each season while also winning a Gold Glove Award every year. In that span, he earned three Silver Slugger Awards and won two batting titles while putting up a .331 average and .806 OPS.  In 2004, he set the all-time single-season record with 262 hits, and he’s the only player in MLB history to register 10 straight 200-plus hit seasons. He also stole over 500 bases and is one of just seven to record 3,000 hits and 500 stolen bases.

After just his 11th MLB game, his career average never again dipped below .300. He retired with a .311 average, 3,089 hits, and a 60.0 WAR. In the live-ball era (since 1920), he is one of just 21