Ichiro Suzuki 'honored' for HOF induction in same month of Japanese exhibit opening

SEATTLE — In a week, Seattle Mariners legend Ichiro Suzuki will officially become the first Japanese-born player to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 10-time All-Star will be inducted along the rest of his class, Billy Wagner, CC Sabathia, the late Dick Allen and the late Dave Parker, on Sunday in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Suzuki is one of the most influential players in Seattle and MLB history. He came over to the U.S. after nine seasons with the Orix BlueWave of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He became the first Japanese position player to be signed by an MLB club in 2001 with the Mariners. He won the AL Rookie of The Year and MVP awards in 2001. He was voted into the HOF his first year of eligibility and was just one vote away from being just the second-ever unanimous inductee.

Since Suzuki took came stateside, several notable Japanese players have followed, including but not limited to: Hisashi Iwakuma, Yu Darvish, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Hideki Matsui, Seiya Suzuki, and defending National League MVP Shohei Ohtani.

Many of those players, and more, are recognized in the new Japanese baseball exhibit at the HOF. The exhibit, titled "Yakyu: The Transpacific Exchange of the Game," opened earlier this month, coinciding with Suzuki's induction.