Ichiro Suzuki

He was the first Japanese-born position player in Major League history, as well as the best. From 2001-19, Ichiro terrorized opposing pitchers with a swing that was pure art. He was a renaissance master at the plate, having honed his craft from childhood and through nine seasons in the Nippon Professional Baseball organization. In an age of record-setting slugging, Ichiro was a throwback, wielding his bat with an unmatched ability to take great pitches and turn them into hits.

Ichiro was named both AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in '01, and would go on to set the single-season record for hits, with 262 in '04. He led the Majors in hits seven times, was a 10-time All-Star and a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner. In 2016, he became the 30th player in history to reach the 3,000-hit milestone, and he didn't debut in the Majors until he was 27.