Ichiro Suzuki enters Hall of Fame in 2025 alongside Billy Wagner, CC Sabathia; Carlos Beltran, Andruw Jones fall just short 

Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner are the newest inductees to the National Baseball Hall of Fame as it revealed its Class of 2025. The members were elected by the Baseball Writers' Association of America through a ballot and were revealed on Tuesday night. The trio join Dave Parker and Dick Allen who were elected by the Classical Baseball Era Committee to complete the class.

To no one's surprise, Suzuki led the final voting results with a 99.7% voting percentage, just narrowly missing the unanimous election by a solitary vote. Sabathia and Wagner meddled within the 80% range, while Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones fell short of the 75% threshold after garnering 70.3% and 66.2%, respectively.

The star outfielder's inclusion on the ballot was significant as Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian-born player in Hall of Fame history to be inducted. He also almost became the first position player to be inducted into the Hall unanimously.

Suzuki echoed what happened to former teammate Derek Jeter in 2020 by falling just one vote shy of a unanimous election. At the time of writing, New York Yankees legend Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimously elected player to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.

In addition to the Japanese legend's induction, a couple of lefty hurlers were voted in, namely, Suzuki's former Bronx Bomber teammate, CC Sabathia, and one of the best relievers that played the game, Billy Wagner.

Sabathia compiled a solid 251 wins throughout his 19 years in the league. He starred for the Cleveland Indians and Milwaukee Brewers before cementing himself as a Yankee great by helping them lift the World Series trophy in 2009. At the moment, Sabathia is just one of three lefties that have recorded at least 3,000 strikeouts (3,093 to be exact) and at least 250 wins in the MLB career.

Wagner, on the other hand, was a seven-time All-Star and is one of only eight pitchers to even compile at least 400 saves in the majors. Interestingly, Wagner was born as a right-hander but due to two arm fractures during his younger days, he switched to his left hand. He was named the NL Rolaids Relief Man Award in 1999 and amassed 422 saves in his career, good for eighth all-time.

Ichiro Suzuki makes Asian baseball history

After being almost unanimously elected, Seattle Mariners and MLB legend Ichiro Suzuki became the first Asian-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Suzuki kickstarted his career with the NPB's Orix Blue Wave (now Buffaloes) on July 11, 1992. After a dominant career wherein he garnered seven All-Star selections along with three consecutive Pacific League MVPs and a Japan Series title, the star right fielder moved stateside.

He made his MLB debut with the Mariners on April 2, 2001, and unbeknownst to many, his career would reach even greater heights in MLB. During his first year in the league, he became just the second player ever to bag the Rookie of the Year and MVP honors in the same season.

Along with a plethora of Gold Gloves and Silver Sluggers, Suzuki ended his MLB career with 3,089 hits, 509 stolen bases, and an absurd .311 batting average.