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.

“It’s a little sweeter seeing Ichiro join CC in the same Hall of Fame class. Ichiro’s impact on baseball globally cannot be understated. He was one of the most uniquely skilled and talented players to ever play this sport, and I feel incredibly fortunate that his career path landed him in pinstripes.

Despite pursuing the two biggest Japanese superstars to come over to MLB in the past two years (Yoshinobu Yamamoto last offseason and Roki Sasaki this offseason

In January 2021, retaining DJ LeMahieu was a no-brainer for the Yankees. Four years later, the Yankees are hoping to finally get something productive from LeMahieu.

The Roki Sasaki sweepstakes has reached its final stage, and the Yankees don’t even have a spot on the podium.

The New York Yankees ... that long ago that New York was the go-to destination for Japanese stars looking to make the jump to the Majors, from Hideki Irabu and Hideki Matsui to Kei Igawa, Hiroki ...

Derek Jeter, Sadaharu Oh and Hideki Matsui were among many to offer their praises Tuesday after former Seattle Mariners outfielder

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he's much more than that in Japan. “He healed the wounds in Japan’s national psyche,” Kiyoteru Tsutsui, professor of sociology at Stanford University, told The Associated Press.

The baseball world was left delighted on Ichiro's induction into Cooperstown. But who opted to keep him off their ballot and deny him the glory of being a unanimous choice?

On Tuesday, he’s expected to be the first Japanese player elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, and possibly only the second player chosen unanimously after New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera.

Ichiro Suzuki is all about baseball, but he’s much more than that in Japan. Back home, he’s a wellspring of national pride, much like Shohei Ohtani now. His triumphs across the Pacific buoyed the nation as Japan’s economy sputtered through the so-called lost decades of the 1990s and into the 2000s.

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