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

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.

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.

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.

Ichiro Suzuki missed unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote Tuesday night when he headlined a three-player class selected by the 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.

Other bits of intrigue ahead of Tuesday's 6 p.m. announcement: Will CC Sabathia be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and is this the year Billy Wagner gets in?

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.

Used to leading off, Ichiro Suzuki got antsy when he had to wait. Considered a no-doubt pick for baseball's Hall of Fame and possibly the second unanimous selection, he waited by the phone for the expected call Tuesday.

Ichiro falls a vote short of being the second unanimous choice ever. CC makes it in his first year of eligibility, Wagner in his last. The recent ballot glut has cleared.

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

In a video shared by MLB Network, former Seattle Mariners skipper Bob Melvin was extremely complimentary to the former outfielder.