Ichiro Suzuki has become the first Japanese player to make it to baseball's Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani is likely to be the next.

Yankees legend Hideki Matsui played seven seasons for the Yankees. It wasn’t until his final one, in 2009, with the addition of lefty ace CC Sabathia, that he managed to get that elusive World Series ring.

Expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Cooperstown on Tuesday, Ichiro is a wellspring of national pride and his fame across the Pacific when he joined MLB was therapeutic for his