Looking back at Ichiro Suzuki’s extensive career before his Hall of Fame induction

SEATTLE — Mariners’ icon Ichiro Suzuki is set to be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame on July 27th.

And, we’ve been celebrating the superstar leading up to the ceremony.

But, before he heads to Cooperstown, let’s look back at his legacy.

Long before he was setting records in Seattle, Ichiro Suzuki was already a legend in Japan.

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Although he was initially slighted because of his size, Ichiro defied the odds in the Nippon Professional Baseball League.

He’d go on to win three Pacific League MVP Awards, A 1996 Japan Series Championship, and garner seven All-Star selections in nine seasons with the Orix BlueWave.

Earlier this year, he was also elected to the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame.

In 2001, Suzuki burst onto the MLB scene. He’s the first Japanese-born position player to ever be signed to a Major League club, defying skeptics just as he had at home.

His name was etched into the record books again, becoming only the second player to win Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player in the same season.

Meanwhile, the Mariners finished that year tied with the 1906 Chicago Cubs for the best regular season record of all-time.

However, the New York Yankees proved to be too much in the American League Championship Series that fall.

Despite homefield advantage, Seattle was ousted in five games. Sadly, it was also the first and only time Suzuki would see the playoffs in a Mariners’ uniform.

He went on to accomplish other historic feats, including amassing 262 hits in 2004, an MLB record for a single season.

He’s also the only player to hit an inside-the-park home run in the All-Star Game, which he accomplished in 2007.

However, the Mariners eventually traded him to the Yankees in July 2012, where he’d spend parts of three seasons. His tenure in the Bronx was followed by three more seasons with the Marlins.

That time with Miami was highlighted by other MLB milestones, including his 3,000th career hit on August 7th, 2016.

He’d round out his big-league career with two final seasons in Seattle, finishing with a laundry list of accolades.

Amongst his accomplishments: 10 consecutive All-Star appearances (2001-2010); 10 Gold Glove Awards; an American League Rookie of the Year Award; an American League MVP Award; three American League Silver Slugger Awards; two American League Batting Titles; the single season MLB hits record; an MLB Record 10 Consecutive Seasons with 200+ Hits; the All-Star Game MVP Award; the American League Stolen Base Leader; two World Baseball Classic Gold Medals with Japan; and, the Seattle Mariners’ Hall of Fame.

Ichiro has also held special roles within the organization and will be immortalized in Cooperstown wearing a Seattle cap.

But you would also imagine at some point, like a pair of other Mariners’ Hall of Famers before him (Ken Griffey Jr. and Edgar Martinez), he’ll eventually get his own statue outside T-Mobile Park as well.

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