Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of a unanimous selection when he was elected on Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia’s name was on 342 ballots and Wagner’s on 325, which was 29 more than the 296 needed for the required 75%.
The trio will be inducted into the Hall at Cooperstown on 27 July along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were voted in last month by the classic era committee.
Mariano Rivera remained the only player to get 100% of the vote from the BBWAA, appearing on all 425 ballots in 2019. Derek Jeter was picked on 395 of 396 in 2020.
Carlos Beltrán fell 19 votes short of election this year with 277 and was followed by Andruw Jones with 261.
Suzuki came to Major League Baseball from Japan as a 27-year-old in 2001 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win AL Rookie of the Year and AL MVP in the same season. He was a two-time AL batting champion and 10-time All-Star and Gold Glove outfielder, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001-12, 2018-19), the New York Yankees (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).
He is perhaps the best contact hitter ever, with 1,278 hits in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a single-season record 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 exceeds Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256.
Sabathia was a six-time All-Star, won the 2007 AL Cy Young Award and a World Series title in 2009. He went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among left-handers behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, during 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009-19).
Wagner received 284 votes and 73.8% in the 2024 balloting, five votes shy, when third baseman Adrian Beltré, catcher/first baseman Joe Mauer and first baseman Todd Helton were elected.
Wagner became the ninth pitcher in the Hall who was primarily a reliever after Hoyt Wilhelm, Rollie Fingers, Dennis Eckersley, Bruce Sutter, Goose Gossage, Trevor Hoffman, Lee Smith and Rivera.
A seven-time All-Star, Wagner was 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA and 422 saves for Houston (1995-2003), Philadelphia (2004-05), the New York Mets (2006-09), Boston (2009) and Atlanta (2010). His 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings are the most among pitchers with at least 900 innings.
Beltrán received 46.5% in 2023 in his first ballot appearance and 57.1% last year. A nine-time All-Star, he had a .279 batting average, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBIs and 312 stolen bases for Kansas City (1998-2004), Houston (2004, 2017), the Mets (2005-11), San Francisco (2011), St. Louis (2012-13), the Yankees (2014-16) and Texas (2016).
He was hired as Mets manager in November 2019, then was fired a few months later in January 2020 without having managed a game. His firing came days after he was the only Astros player mentioned by name in a report on Houston’s sign-stealing scandal.
Players joining the ballot in 2026 include Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp.
