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.

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.

The Japanese superstar more than made the cut for Cooperstown enshrinement — along with ex-Yankees great CC Sabathia and former Mets closer Billy Wagner — coming up just one vote short