Ichiro Suzuki becomes the first Japanese player to be elected to the baseball Hall of Fame, joined by Sabathia, Wagner.
Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese player to be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, falling by one vote when he was elected Tuesday along with CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner.
Suzuki received 393 of 394 votes from the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. Sabathia had 342 votes and Wagner had 325, which was 29 more than the 296 required for the 75 percent required.
Sabathia and Suzuki were selected in their first election appearances. Wagner won on his 10th and final try.
The trio will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown on July 27 along with Dave Parker and Dick Allen, who were voted in last month by the all-time committee.
Mariano Rivera remains the only player to receive 100 percent of the vote in the BBWAA, appearing in all 425 votes in 2019. Derek Jeter was selected 395 out of 396 in 2020.
Carlos Beltran fell 19 votes short of 70.3 percent, up from 57.1 percent last year and 46.5 percent in 2023 in his first appearance on the ballot. He was followed by Andrew Jones at 261 percent and 66.2 percent, which is an increase from 61.6 percent last year and 7.3 percent during his 2018 debut.
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Suzuki arrived in Major League Baseball from Japan at the age of 27 in 2001 and joined Fred Lynn in 1975 as the only players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season. He was a two-time AL batting champion and ten-time All-Star and Gold Glove pitcher, hitting .311 with 117 homers, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases with Seattle (2001- 12, 2018-19), New York Yankees. (2012-14) and Miami (2015-17).
He is perhaps the greatest hitter of all time, hitting 1,278 in Nippon Professional Baseball and 3,089 in MLB, including a season-high 262 in 2004. His combined total of 4,367 surpasses Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256.
Sabathia was a six-time All-Star who won the AL Cy Young Award in 2007 and a World Series title in 2009. He went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA and 3,093 strikeouts, third among lefties behind Randy Johnson and Steve Carlton, in 19 seasons with Cleveland (2001-08), Milwaukee (2008) and the New York Yankees (2009- 19).
Wagner received 284 votes and 73.8 percent of the 2024 election, five votes shy of third baseman Adrian Beltre, catcher/first baseman Joe Mauer and first baseman Todd Helton . Wagner received only 10.5 percent support in his first appearance in 2016.
He became the ninth Hall of Fame reliever — the first lefty among them — behind 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 innings per nine innings are the most of any pitcher with at least 900 innings, although his 903 career innings are the fewest among Hall of Famers.
Chase Utley was sixth with 157 votes at 39.8 percent, up from 28.8 percent in his first appearance.
Alex Rodriguez and Manny Ramirez were delayed on the ballot, hurt by performance-enhancing drug suspensions. Rodriguez scored 37.1 percent in his fourth appearance, up from 34.8 percent, and Ramirez scored 34.3 percent in his ninth, up from 32.5 percent.
Andy Pettitte received 110 votes and 27.9 percent in his seventh appearance, double the 13.5 percent last year. Felix Hernandez received 81 votes and 20.6 percent of his first ballot.
Players comprise 278 of the 351 Hall of Famers selected, including 142 on the BBWAA ballot, 62 of whom were selected in their first year of eligibility.
Carlos Gonzalez, Curtis Granderson, Adam Jones, Ian Kinsler, Russell Martin, Brian McCann, Hanley Ramirez, Fernando Rodney, Troy Tulowitzki and Ben Zobrist will be excluded from future ballots after receiving less than 5 percent.
Cole Hamels, Ryan Braun and Matt Kemp join the ballot next year.
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