The longtime Seattle Mariners ace is set to be at the forefront of the argument for a new generation of pitchers.

If that remains the case when the final results are released by the Baseball Writers Association of America on Tuesday, Ichiro will be the first Japanese-born player in the Hall of Fame and just the second player ever to be unanimously elected to Cooperstown.

Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball's Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.

SEATTLE – As I looked at my Baseball Hall of Fame ballot that included checkmarks on the boxes next to nine players’ names, I stared at the open box next to another name: Félix Hernández.

Tuesday is one of the holy days on the baseball calendar, the announcement of players voted into the Hall of Fame. The honor is extreme and well-earned, with just over 1% of all big leaguers making it to Cooperstown for what they did as players: 275 out of 23,370.

To this point, only famed Yankee closer Mariano Rivera has been elected to the Hall of Fame unanimously — not Babe Ruth, not Hank Aaron, not Ken Griffey Jr. nor Derek Jeter, just Rivera. Could Suzuki be the second?

Ichiro will join fellow Hall of Famers Ken Griffey Jr., Edgar Martinez, and Jackie Robinson as the only players to have their uniform number retired by the M's.

The trio of stars, each of whom spent part of their career in New York, will be inducted in Cooperstown on July 27.

King Félix will have to wait for his potential crowning ceremony, but Tuesday night’s announcement was a solid debut for the former Mariners ace’s chances for enshrinement into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The Seattle Mariners will celebrate the retirement of Hall of Famer Ichiro Suzuki's No. 51 with five games of giveaways in August.

Ichiro Suzuki has made even more history. The all-time great hitter is heading to Cooperstown, with C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner joining him.

Ichiro, who spent parts of 14 years with the Mariners, will become the third player to wear an M's hat in Cooperstown!