Ichiro Suzuki, CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner reached the necessary 75% support on the BBWAA Hall of Fame ballot revealed Tuesday. Complete results.
Wagner erupted in tears as he received the news of his induction during a phone call with Hall of Fame representatives in Cooperstown. Our Esquina's Jose de Jesus Ortiz was alongside Wagner in the reliever's home Tuesday night, and Ortiz relayed quite the emotional message.
It was a long time coming, but Billy Wagner finally closed it out. And he couldn’t keep the emotions from flowing. The seven-time All-Star, in his final year of eligibility, was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame with 82.5 percent of the vote.
In his 10th and final year on the ballot, former Astros closer Billy Wagner earned is place in Cooperstown, N.Y. in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
MLB players who are eligible to make the Baseball Hall of Fame receive 10 chances (as long as they don't dip below five percent of the vote) to get a plaque in
In a video posted on X by sports writer Jose de Jesus Ortiz, Wagner leaned against a pool table while taking the call. He listened for more than 15 seconds before he put his hand on his face, fighting tears and hunching over. “Thank you,” he eventually said to the person on the other end of the phone.
These three players, along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were chosen by the most recent Era Committee, will be inducted in Cooperstown this coming summer. The necessary first step, though, is clearing that 75% threshold for election and then getting the official call from the Hall.
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player chosen for baseball’s Hall of Fame, falling one vote shy of unanimous when he was elected along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
“For me, I’m just happy it’s over.” Wagner became the first left-handed reliever elected to the Hall of Fame, and he embraced the other, very unlikely pieces of his rise. He played collegiate ball at the Division III level – Ferrum College.
Ichiro Suzuki had already cemented a strong, and likely everlasting baseball card market long before Tuesday’s almost unanimous vote for his induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, headlining the class of 2025.
Ichiro Suzuki missed unanimous election to the Baseball Hall of Fame by one vote Tuesday night when he headlined a three-player class selected by the 394 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America.