Ichiro Suzuki enters Baseball Hall of Fame in near-unanimous fashion

Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player to gain entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame — and yet the moment fell narrowly shy of even more history. 

Suzuki, a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Famer to nearly everyone, was not a no-doubt, first-ballot Hall of Famer to literally everyone: The longtime Mariners superstar and former Yankee appeared on 393 of 394 ballots, falling a single vote short of unanimity. 

As of early Tuesday night, the holdout had not come forward. 

“As a baseball player, this is the highest honor that you can achieve,” Suzuki, who was not asked about the one vote in a brief, English-portion of a news conference following the announcement, said through an interpreter. “And so as a baseball player, this is definitely the top of the top.” 

Mariano Rivera remains the only player whose name was checked off on every ballot. Derek Jeter also fell a single vote short. Suzuki’s teammate, Ken Griffey Jr., missed out on 100 percent by three votes. 

Whether he would receive a perfect score or merely an A+ was the only bit of drama surrounding Suzuki, who was a wizard with a bat. He did not come over to the majors until he was 27 and still finished with more than 3,000 hits in MLB. 

Over a 19-year career, he became the first player in history with 10 straight seasons of at least 200 hits, won 10 straight Gold Gloves, appeared in 10 All-Star Games and stole 509 bases. 

The Yankees traded for Suzuki in 2012, and he hit .281 in two-plus years in The Bronx. 

“Ichiro was an impactful player in so many ways, whether he was at bat, in the field or on the bases,” said his then-manager, Joe Girardi, in a statement. “In the field, he was a guy you didn’t run on to try to take an extra base, and he got to balls in the gap that most right fielders didn’t get to. Ichiro could steal a base at any time, and he was a guy who had the ability to hit a home run, if that’s what the situation dictated. His bat-to-ball skills were second to none, and when I managed against him, he was someone that you worried about in the leadoff spot — and those are not the guys you typically worry about.” 

Andruw Jones has been trending up but will need a late leap. In his eighth year on the ballot, the longtime Braves center fielder received 66.2 percent of the vote. 

David Wright will remain on the ballot after receiving 8.1 percent of the vote in his second year of eligibility. 

Curtis Granderson (0.8 percent) and Brian McCann (1.8 percent) will not remain on the ballot. 

Andy Pettitte received 27.9 percent of the vote in his seventh year and Alex Rodriguez 37.1 percent in his fourth. 

2026 will be the final season on the ballot for Manny Ramirez, who received 34.3 percent of the vote. 

There is no slam-dunk Hall of Famer among the 2026 ballot newcomers. 

Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun, Edwin Encarnacion, Alex Gordon, Matt Kemp and Hunter Pence are eligible for the first time next year. 

Hamels has the best shot after a 15-season career in which he pitched to a 3.43 ERA, reached four All-Star Games and was the World Series MVP for the 2008 champion Phillies. 

A strong statistical career for Braun likely will not end in enshrinement because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs, his crusade to maintain his innocence and his later admission and apology.