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