Once more, for baseball immortality, Billy Wagner closed it out. Wagner, the dominant closer who played a two-season sliver of his 16-year career with the Phillies, got elected Tuesday night to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year on the ballot.
Suzuki's close call means New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera remains the only unanimous electee. Rivera received all 425 votes in 2019. Another longtime Yankees icon, shortstop Derek Jeter, came within one vote of unanimous election in 2020. Suzuki, Rivera and Jeter were teammates with New York from 2012-13.
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner will join Dave Parker and Dick Allen this summer in Cooperstown, New York.
The career .311 MLB hitter was the 2001 AL MVP and Rookie of the Year and won 10 consecutive AL Gold Glove Awards, all with the Mariners.
Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner reached the necessary 75% support on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot revealed Tuesday. Complete results.
Suzuki is the first Japanese player elected, falling one vote shy of unanimous. The trio will be inducted on July 27 in Cooperstown, N.Y., along with classic era committee picks Dave Parker and
Ichiro Suzuki and CC Sabathia were elected to Baseball’s Hall of Fame on Tuesday night, Suzuki in overwhelming fashion, while Billy Wagner made the most of his 10th and final appearance on the ballot, clearing the 75% barrier to inclusion by earning 325 of 394 votes.
Ichiro Suzuki will be the first Japanese player to enter the National Baseball Hall of Fame, and he'll be joined by CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner in the Class of 2025.
Hank Aaron once told me his election into the Hall of Fame was the “greatest thrill I had in baseball” and the “greatest thing that ever happened to me as an individual.” Not once did he mention that nine voters left him off the ballot.
Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected as the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the museum announced.
The Baseball Hall of Fame has three new members. Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wanger were voted into the Hall of Fame on Tuesday. Outfielder Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones fell just short of immortality.