Global baseball's hit king Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player elected to Major League baseball's Hall of Fame on Tuesday, just one vote shy of unanimous selection.

Ichiro Suzuki, the dominant contact hitter whose 19 years in the major leagues, mostly with the Seattle Mariners, became the first Asian player elected to baseball’s Hall of Fame.

Ichiro received 99.7% of the vote, meaning just one Hall of Fame voter left him off their ballot. As such, former New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only player to