Ichiro Suzuki

Ichiro Suzuki, born on October 22, 1973 and known mononymously as Ichiro, is a Japanese former professional baseball outfielder who played for 28 seasons. He spent nine years with the Orix BlueWave of Nippon Professional Baseball and then played in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins before returning to the Mariners. He won two World Baseball Classic titles with the Japan national team. Considered one of the greatest contact hitters, leadoff hitters and defensive outfielders in baseball history, he set the single-season record of 262 hits, had ten consecutive 200-hit seasons, reached 3,000 major league hits in 2016, and finished with 4,367 professional hits across Japan and the United States. In 2025 he became the first Japanese player elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.