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

When he first arrived in Seattle in 2001, Ichiro wasn’t sure what kind of reception he would get from American baseball fans.

Fair to say, the Mariners’ iconic right fielder didn’t expect all this – and he’s sure no one else did either.

“I don’t think anybody in this whole world thought I would be a Hall of Famer,” he said Tuesday.

Nearly a quarter century later, he was back inside the Mariners ballpark to celebrate his election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and a familiar face greeted with a familiar embrace.

Soon after Ichiro’s election announcement became official, a hundred or so Mariners staffers lined a basement tunnel to welcome him with chants of “Ee-chee-row! Eee-chee-row!”

Seattle’s singular star, known worldwide by a single name, has achieved baseball’s highest honor – and he did so in historic fashion.

Ichiro fell one vote shy of becoming the first position player in Major League Baseball history to earn unanimous election into the Hall of Fame.

Still, he garnered support from 393 of the 394 voters from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, and his 99.7% share of the votes matched Yankees great Derek Jeter (2020) for the highest percentage received among position players.

In 2001, Ichiro became the first Japanese position player to make the jump to the major leagues, and he will be the first Japanese player enshrined in the Hall of Fame during the induction ceremony on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Ichiro is the third Mariners player to earn election into the Hall of Fame, joining Ken Griffey Jr. (inducted in 2016) and Edgar Martinez (2019).

“This challenge started in 2001,” Ichiro said via his longtime interpreter Allen Turner. “Now it’s 2025 … and I can’t imagine it would get to this point where I am today. There was a time where I didn’t even know if I would be given the chance to play in MLB. What an honor it is for me to be here and be a Hall of Famer – it’s a special day.”

Another Mariners icon, Ken Griffey Jr., was three votes shy of unanimity in 2016. The identity of the three writers who did not vote for Griffey have never been revealed.

Similarly, the voter who did not include Ichiro on their ballot did so anonymously. (Voters are not required to reveal their ballots.)

During the Hall of Fame announcement show on MLB Network, veteran baseball broadcaster Bob Costas and former Mariners second baseman Harold Reynolds expressed surprise that one voter snubbed Ichiro.

“I can’t fathom a single reason (that Ichiro wasn’t unanimous),” Costas said on the broadcast.

“I’m miffed,” Reynolds added. “Ninety-nine point seven – I mean, come on.”

Mariano Rivera, the Yankees’ legendary closer inducted in 2019, is the only player to earn a unanimous selection.

Also Tuesday, longtime Mariners ace Félix Hernández, also eligible for the first time this year, fell short of the necessary votes (75%) to earn induction. Hernández received 81 votes in all (20.6%) and will remain on the ballot in 2026.

There has never been a player quite like Ichiro. He was part athlete, part artist, part wizard, part rock star.

Ichiro joined the Mariners at age 27 in 2001, making the leap from Japan at the height of MLB’s steroid era, a time when home runs were hit (and celebrated) like never before.

Listed generously at 5 -foot -11 and 175 pounds, Ichiro was a slap-hitting throwback to a long ago era. And he was greeted with initial skepticism about his ability to handle major-league pitching.

“As the first Japanese position player coming over … I felt like there was going to be judgment on Japanese baseball,” he said. “And so there was definitely that pressure and I knew that how I performed was going to be really looked at as ‘This is Japanese baseball.’”

The 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 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.

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.

The 51-year-old Ichiro has remained a part of the Mariners organization as a special assistant to the chairman, and the club announced Tuesday evening that Ichiro’s No. 51 jersey will be retired as part of the Ichiro Hall of Fame Weekend from Aug. 8-10 at T-Mobile Park.

Ichiro headlines the 2025 Hall of Fame class that also features pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, both of whom were elected on Tuesday. Two other players will be part of the 2025 class, sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, after they were previously voted in by the Classic Baseball Era committee.