COOPERSTOWN, NY: The results of this year's Baseball Writers Association of America vote were made public by the Hall of Fame. Billy Wagner, CC Sabathia, and Ichiro exceeded the 75% induction criteria. They will be in the 2025 class with Dave Parker and Dick Allen. At the Winter Meetings, the Classic Baseball Era committee chose Allen and Parker. Ichiro was one vote away from unanimity, appearing on 99.7% of the votes.
Ichiro and Sabathia, two of the three inductees, are accepted into Cooperstown during their first year. Wagner takes advantage of his tenth and last chance. Last winter, when the authors had their final chance to elect him, he had vaulted over an 82% vote share and fallen just a percentage point short.
Prior to moving to the major leagues during the 2000–01 offseason, Ichiro was a star in his native nation. He became one of the greatest players in Mariners history as soon as he signed a three-year contract. With 242 hits and 56 stolen bases, Ichiro led the major leagues. At the top of a loaded Seattle lineup, he hit .350 to win the AL batting title. The best regular season team in MLB history is still the 2001 Mariners, who won 116 games. The Yankees defeated them in a five-game Championship Series.
Ichiro recorded 3089 hits and a .311 batting average at the end of his major league career. Any player would be proud of that accomplishment, but it's particularly noteworthy for someone who played in the NPB for several of his prime years and didn't make his major league debut until he was 27. Although many people think that Ichiro could have been an impact power bat if he had given that more importance than his exceptional pure hitting abilities, he was never a major power threat in games. Anyway, he stole over 500 bases and finished with 117 career home runs. He received three Silver Slugger medals and ten Gold Gloves.
The Indians selected Sabathia in the first round of the 1998 draft. Within three years of being chosen out of high school, he was in the majors. He placed second to Ichiro in the '01 Rookie of the Year vote, having won 17 games in his rookie campaign. For the first several seasons of his career, the southpaw was a reliable mid-rotation arm for Cleveland. In 2003 and 2004, he received consecutive All-Star selections.
Sabathia agreed to a seven-year, $161 million megadeal with the Yankees. In his rookie season, he won an MLB-high 19 games while throwing 230 innings with a 3.37 ERA. After helping the Yanks win their 27th World Series, he went on to earn the ALCS MVP award with a 1.98 ERA in five postseason starts. Over the following two years, Sabathia would win 21 and 19 games, respectively, and pitch 230 innings with a low ERA of 3.00s. In each of his first three seasons with the Pinstripes, he was among the top four Cy Young voters.
In 2012, he received his final All-Star selection, and in 2013, he made his final appearance at 200 innings. After his first free agent contract expired, Sabathia signed a number of short-term contracts to stay in the Bronx. His retirement in 2019 came after he was a competent back-end starter. Over the course of 19 seasons, Sabathia amassed approximately 3600 innings. He collected more than 3000 strikeouts, won 251 games, and had a 3.74 ERA. He is ranked 18th on the all-time rankings with 3093 punchouts.
Wagner was called up from Cooperstown as the ninth primary reliever. He was selected in the first round by the Astros in 1993 and would play most of his career in Houston. After making his debut in 1995, Wagner recorded his first few saves the following year. By 1997, after saving 23 games with a 2.85 ERA over 66 1/3 innings, he was Houston's full-time closer.
The following season, the hard-throwing lefty made 30 saves for the first time in his career. In 1999, he went on to strike out 124 batters in 74 2/3 innings with a stellar 1.57 ERA. In addition to earning his first All-Star selection, Wagner recorded 39 saves and finished fourth in the Cy Young voting. That season, he was awarded MLB's best reliever.
At age 38, he recorded a 1.43 ERA with 37 saves in 69 1/3 innings, capping out a stellar career. Wagner earned his seventh and last All-Star selection by striking out 104 batters. Over 903 innings, he had a 2.31 ERA at the end of his career. Wagner ranks ninth all-time with 422 saves and nearly 1200 strikeouts. Over the course of a career that included parts of 16 seasons, he struck out an incredible 33.2% of opposing hitters.
Nobody other was able to secure a 40% or greater vote share. Dustin Pedroia (11.9%) and Félix Hernández (20.6%) were the only first-time candidates to make it to the 5% threshold required to remain on the ballot, aside from Ichiro and Sabathia. In his last year of eligibility, Wagner was the only one. Only the first-time candidates who garnered little support were removed from the ballot because no returning candidates fell below a 5% vote share.
The 2025 induction ceremony will be held at baseball’s cathedral in Cooperstown, New York on July 27, 2025. The Hall will introduce three more legends of the game into baseball immortality.
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