Baseball Hall of Fame voting results: Former Marlin Ichiro Suzuki elected on the first ballot

[Louis Addeo-Weiss]

Suzuki and CC Sabathia headline a 2025 class that includes Billy Wagner.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame has announced its selections for the 2025 class, highlighted by Ichiro Suzuki, selected on the first ballot just one vote shy of unanimity. Joining him is fellow first-timer CC Sabathia, a member of another elusive 3,000-club—the 3,000-strikeout club—and Billy Wagner, who makes it in his tenth and final year of eligibility.

In regard to other former Marlins, Mark Buehrle—five-time All-Star and 214-game winner who put up 4.2 bWAR and won a Gold Glove in his lone season with Miami in 2012—received 11.4% of the vote in his fifth year on the ballot. First-timers Hanley Ramírez, Curtis Granderson and Fernando Rodney all failed to attain the necessary 5% to remain under consideration in the future. The BBWAA posted the full breakdown of voting percentages.

Ramírez won NL Rookie of the Year honors in 2006 and made three consecutive All-Star teams from 2008-2010, capturing the 2009 NL batting title after hitting .342, ultimately finishing second to Albert Pujols in league MVP voting. To date, Ramírez remains the only player in franchise history to both hit 100-plus home runs and steal 100-plus bases, well exceeding both of those totals at 148 and 230, respectively.

But back to Ichiro…

Suzuki, who collected 3,089 hits after coming stateside in 2001, becomes the sixth player inducted to have played for the Florida/Miami Marlins, joining Andre Dawson (2010), Mike Piazza (2016), Tim Raines (2017), Iván Rodríguez (2017) and Trevor Hoffman (2018). Jim Leyland, elected in 2024 for his contributions as a manager, won his only World Series title at the helm of the 1997 Marlins. 

After collecting 1,278 hits in parts of nine seasons in Japan, Suzuki commenced his first decade in the North American Major Leagues with 10 consecutive AL All-Star appearances. He was named American League Rookie of the Year and MVP in his inaugural 2001 campaign. He collected no fewer than 206 hits in each of those first 10 seasons, including an MLB record 262 in 2004, to go along with 10 Gold Gloves, all done while a member of the Seattle Mariners.

While well past his prime upon arriving in Miami before the 2015 season, Ichiro became a quick fan favorite in his parts of three seasons with the club, collecting his 3,000th hit on August 7, 2016, against the Colorado Rockies. He's the only player to reach that milestone in a Marlins uniform. Seen as somewhat of a late-career renaissance, Suzuki hit .291/.354/.376/.730 across 365 PA as a 42-year-old in 2016, good enough for a 102 OPS+ and 1.6 bWAR, the latter being his highest single-season total since 2013.

Despite being an overall on-field liability in 2015 (-1.1 bWAR), Suzuki retained his acumen as a strong outfield defender, leading all NL right fielders in total zone runs (+13), and grading out at +16 for the season. Thanks to his plus-8 Rfield during his tenure with Miami, Ichiro became one of just five players to amass 10-plus runs of value on defense after turning 40, finishing at plus-11.

From all of our staff here at Fish On First, we extend our sincerest congratulations to each of the newly elected Hall of Famers.

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[rurrusuno]

Why did I have the slighest feeling that someone was going to turn their back on Ichiro? 😑