MIAMI — The president of the Baseball Hall of Fame was the grateful recipient Monday as Ichiro Suzuki handed over his gear — a jersey, a pair of cleats, his arm guard and batting gloves, all items he wore while becoming the 30th player to reach 3,000 hits.

When the exchange concluded, the two men bowed to each other, a fitting gesture to celebrate the bridge from Japan to Cooperstown.

Suzuki began building that bridge when he came to the major leagues as a 27-year-old rookie in 2001. Years later, he’s a memorabilia-making machine.

The Suzuki collection at the Hall of Fame numbered more than two dozen items even before his triple Sunday at Colorado, which made him the first Japanese player to reach 3,000 hits. When he and his teammates returned to Marlins Park to begin a homestand, Hall of Fame president Jeff Idelson was there to collect additional Suzuki souvenirs.

“Jeff asked me about the stuff,” Suzuki said through an interpreter. “I was happy to give it to him.”

Suzuki, a baseball history buff, has visited Cooperstown six times.

“There is no current player I’ve encountered who has as deep an appreciation of baseball history as Ichiro,” Idelson said. “This is a guy who understands his place in history.”