Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki /ˈiːtʃɪroʊ/ (鈴木 一朗, Suzuki Ichirō; born 22 October 1973), also known mononymously as Ichiro (イチロー, Ichirō), is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He played the first nine years of his career with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB), and the next 12 years with the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball (MLB). Suzuki then played two and a half seasons with the New York Yankees and three with the Miami Marlins before returning to the Mariners for his final two seasons. He won two World Baseball Classic titles as part of the Japanese national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest contact hitters, leadoff hitters and defensive outfielders in baseball history.^[1]

In his combined playing time in the NPB and MLB, Suzuki received 17 consecutive selections as an All-Star and Gold Glove winner, won nine league batting titles, and was named his league's most valuable player (MVP) four times. In the NPB, he won seven consecutive batting titles and three consecutive Pacific League MVP Awards. In 2001, Suzuki became the first Japanese-born position player to be posted and signed to an MLB club.^[2] He led the American League (AL) in batting average and stolen bases en route to being named AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP.

Suzuki was the first MLB player to enter the Meikyukai (The Golden Players Club). He was a ten-time MLB All-Star and won the 2007 All-Star Game MVP Award for a three-hit performance that included the event's first-ever inside-the-park home run. Suzuki won a Rawlings Gold Glove Award in each of his first 10 years in the majors and had an American League–record seven hitting streaks of 20 or more games, with a high of 27. He was also noted for the longevity of his career, continuing to produce at a high level with slugging and on-base percentages above .300 in 2016, while approaching 43 years of age. Suzuki also set a number of batting records, including MLB's single-season record for hits with 262. He achieved 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons, the longest streak by any player in history. In 2016, Suzuki notched the 3,000th hit of his MLB career, becoming only the 30th player ever to do so. In total, he finished with 4,367 hits in his professional career across Japan and the United States, the most of any player in history at the top level of baseball.^[3] Since retiring as a player in 2019, he became the Mariners' special assistant to the chairman.

In 2025, Suzuki was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He became the first Japanese player to be elected into the Hall of Fame, receiving 99.7% of the vote, tied with Derek Jeter for the second-highest total ever.^[4] That same year, Suzuki was also elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.^[5] On August 9, 2025, the Seattle Mariners retired Ichiro’s number 51.