Mariners legends grace 2025 Hall of Fame ballot in exciting news for fanbase

Each year a new crop of players become eligible for the highest honor in the sport: the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is generally one or two no doubt Hall of Famers and a few that lie on the bubble of joining the prestigious group, and this year is no different.

After Ken Griffey Jr. set a Hall of Fame record, at the time, securing 99.3% vote percentage in 2016, Edgar Martinez was finally rewarded with 85.4% in 2019. With those two being the most recent players entering the Hall of Fame wearing Seattle Mariners ballcaps, (Adrian Beltre went in as a Texas Ranger), the Mariners will have the chance to dominate the upcoming 2025 Hall of Fame Class.

Ichiro and Felix Hernandez hope to join 2025 MLB Hall of Fame class

On Monday the 18th, the Baseball Writers' Association of America released its 2025 Hall of Fame ballot and there are a number of names on it who could join the class. Two Seattle Mariner legends will enter their first time on the ballot in hopes of being rewarded for their illustrious careers.

The first and most notable name is Ichiro. Arguably the best player in Seattle Mariners history, Ichiro is a surefire Hall of Famer. The only question when it comes to Ichiro making the Hall of Fame, is number of votes he will receive. Will one of the best hitters to ever play join Mariano Rivera as the only players with 100% of the votes?

The Japanese star set the world on fire when he came over as part of the great 2001 Seattle Mariners club. He would hit .350/.381/.457 while leading the league in stolen bases and then winning the American League Rookie of the Year and MVP awards. Ichiro's career is full of impressive numbers, including his career .311./.355/.402 slash line and 3,089 hits. Ichiro was a 10-time All Star, a 10-time Gold Glove winner, and a three-time Silver Slugger. He was one of the most entertaining players to watch on a nightly basis. 2025 will be the year that Mariners fans will get to see him rewarded for all of his hard work, and he should be celebrated at T-Mobile Park later this year.

The other franchise legend, Felix Hernandez, doesn't have as rock solid of a resume as Ichiro. While Ichiro was among the best of the best for a long stretch of time playing the game for 19 seasons in America (he also played nine seasons in Japan), peak Felix was one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, albeit for a shorter time span.

Despite how great that peak was, the relatively quick falloff may hurt his chances as he wasn't able to accumulate the counting stats that many people might look to for a Hall of Famers case. From 2009-2015, you would be hard pressed to find a pitcher that was better than "The King" — he won a Cy Young award (and got robbed of at least one other one), earned six All-Star nods, and tallied numerous MVP votes. Felix was one of the best pitchers of that generation and we'd hope he'd find his way to Cooperstown, but it's unlikely he joins Ichiro on the first ballot.