Cooperstown is getting itself a troika of southpaws, representing almost every phase of baseball greatness: An indomitable hit machine in the batter’s box, a classic workhorse on the mound and a relief ace whose stuff plays well in any era.
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.
Suzuki nearly joined Mariano Rivera – a man tasked with pitching just one inning in almost all of his outings – as the only unanimous selections to the Hall. He received 393 of the 394 votes for a total of 99.746%, second only to shortstop Derek Jeter’s 99.748% showing in 2020 as the highest for a position player in Hall of Fame voting.
Wagner’s 82.5% vote total cleared up the only real tension of the night, as he missed by just five votes in 2024, when he was named on 73.8% of ballots. Now, the Hall of Fame is ensured a trio of electees via the Baseball Writers’ Association of America come July.
It should be a massive and raucous and multi-national contingent.
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Suzuki is the first Japanese player to earn Hall of Fame induction, producing top-tier Cooperstown numbers despite not starting his major league career until he was 27 years old. That didn’t stop him from compiling 3,089 hits – he had 4,286 between the majors and Japan’s top league – and winning a pair of batting titles. He began his career with 10 consecutive 200-hit seasons and in 2004, his fourth season, set a major league record with 262 hits.
Suzuki did it all with a dash of showmanship and subtle but undeniable panache. Sabathia, meanwhile, was a tugboat willing his teams to success while hanging zeroes on the scoreboard. Sabathia won 251 career games and, despite a 3.74 career ERA, accumulated 62.3 WAR over his 19-year career.
Suzuki, Sabathia and Wagner will be joined by veterans’ committee selections Dick Allen and Dave Parker on induction day in Cooperstown on July 27.
Baseball Hall of Fame voting results 2025
Ichiro Suzuki: 99.7% (first year)
CC Sabathia: 86.8% (first)
Billy Wagner: 82.5% (10th, final year)
Carlos Beltrán: 70.3% (third)
Andruw Jones: 66.2% (eighth)
Chase Utley: 39.8% (second)
Álex Rodríguez: 37.1% (fourth)
Manny Ramírez: 34.3% (ninth)
Andy Pettitte: 27.9% (seventh)
Félix Hernández: 20.6% (first)
Bobby Abreu: 19.5% (sixth)
Jimmy Rollins: 18% (fourth)
Omar Vizquel: 17.8% (eighth)
Dustin Pedroia: 11.9% (first)
Mark Buehrle: 11.4% (fifth)
Francisco Rodríguez: 10.2% (third)
David Wright: 8.1% (second)
Torii Hunter: 5.1% (fifth)
Ian Kinsler: 2.5% (first)
Russell Martin: 2.3% (first)
Brian McCann: 1.8% (first)
Troy Tulowitzki: 1% (first)
Curtis Granderson: 0.8% (first)
Adam Jones: 0.8% (first)
Carlos González: 0.5% (first)
Hanley Ramírez: 0% (first)
Fernando Rodney: 0% (first)
Ben Zobrist: 0% (first)
2025 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot
Billy Wagner (10th year on ballot)
Andruw Jones (8th)
Carlos Beltrán (3rd)
Alex Rodriguez (4th)
Manny Ramirez (9th)
Chase Utley (2nd)
Omar Vizquel (8th)
Bobby Abreu (6th)
Jimmy Rollins (4th)
Andy Pettitte (7th)
Mark Buehrle (5th)
Francisco Rodríguez (3rd)
Torii Hunter (5th)
David Wright (2nd)
Carlos González (1st)
Curtis Granderson (1st)
Félix Hernández (1st)
Adam Jones (1st)
Ian Kinsler (1st)
Russell Martin (1st)
Brian McCann (1st)
Dustin Pedroia (1st)
Hanley Ramírez (1st)
Fernando Rodney (1st)
CC Sabathia (1st)
Ichiro Suzuki (1st)
Troy Tulowitzki (1st)
Ben Zobrist (1st)
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