Jan. 22 (UPI) — Ichiro Suzuki, C.C. Sabathia and Billy Wagner were elected as the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, the museum announced.
The induction ceremony will be held July 27 at the Clark Sports Center in Cooperstown, N.Y. The Seattle Mariners also announced Tuesday that they will retire Ichiro’s No. 51 jersey, with a ceremony planned for Aug. 9 in Seattle.
“I don’t think anybody in this whole world thought that I would be a Hall of Famer,” Ichiro, the first Japanese player elected to the Hall of Fame, told reporters Tuesday.
Ichiro received 393 of 394 possible votes from the Baseball Writers Association of America. His 99.7% vote percentage was tied with Derek Jeter for the second-highest in history, trailing only Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous selection.
Sabathia received 342 (86.8%) votes. Wagner earned 325 (82.5%).
Ichiro, 51, hit .311 with 3,089 hits, 117 home runs, 780 RBIs and 509 stolen bases over his 19-year career. He surged onto the scene as a 2000 signing from the Japan Pacific League.
The 5-foot-11 outfielder hit an American League-best .350, with an MLB-high 242 hits and 56 stolen bases en route to MVP and Rookie of the Year honors while with the Seattle Mariners in 2001.
Ichiro recorded at least 200 hits and recorded a batting average of at least 310 through each of his first 10 seasons, earning 10-consecutive All-Star selections to start his MLB career.
He led MLB in hits seven times during that span, including a career-best 262 in 2004. He also hit a career-high and MLB-best .372 that season.
Ichiro also played for the New York Yankees and Miami Marlins. He spent the 2018 and 2019 campaigns — his final two seasons — with the Mariners. Ichiro also won 10 Gold Glove Awards and was a three-time Silver Slugger Award winner.
Before his MLB career, Ichiro was a seven-time All-Star and batting champion in Japan. He also was a three-time Pacific League MVP. He also is a member of the Japan Baseball Hall of Fame. Ichiro’s 4,367 combined hits between MLB and his years in Japan exceed Pete Rose’s MLB record of 4,256.
“It started in 2001, at that time there was probably not one person on this earth that thought that this day would come,” Ichiro said.
“Obviously, many things have happened, not just good but some bad, too. But to be able to be here through all the things that have happened means a lot. I’m just very honored.”
Sabathia, Ichiro’s teammate for three seasons with the Yankees, started his career with the Cleveland Indians. He also played for the Milwaukee Brewers. The six-time All-Star went 251-161 with a 3.74 ERA over 561 career appearances, including 560 starts.
Sabathia, 44, went 19-7 with a 3.21 ERA en route to Cy Young Award honors in 2007 while with the Indians. The left-handed pitcher won an American League-best 19 games in 2009, when the Yankees went on to win the World Series. He won an MLB-best 21 games the next season.
“It means everything to me, just going to the Hall of Fame in general,” Sabathia said on the MLB Network broadcast. “It’s a big honor. But to go in first ballot, I know what that means as a baseball player. It’s super exciting.”
Wagner, 53, went 47-40 with a 2.31 ERA over 853 appearances during his 16-year MLB career. The left-handed relief pitcher totaled 422 saves, the eighth-most in MLB history.
He was the 1999 Rolaids Relief Man of the Year for the National League. The seven-time All-Star spent the majority of his career with the Houston Astros. He also spent time with the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves.
“When I think of what I represent, from Division III, from Southwest Virginia, from the state of Virginia, it’s such a blessing,” Wagner said.
“There is so much that is involved in this than just me. My wife pretty much throwing every pitch with me and being involved in every step through college and the minor leagues. There is just so much that I’m grateful for.”
Wagner was named to the Hall of Fame in his 10th and final year of eligibility. He finished five votes short on last year’s ballot. Wagner was 27 votes short in 2023. He finished 29 votes over the necessary threshold in 2025.
Former star outfielders Carlos Beltran (70.3%) and Andruw Jones (66.2%) were among the players who fell just short of the 75% vote requirement on this year’s ballot. Beltran was in his third year of eligibility, while Jones was in his eighth.
Longtime Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (39.8%) and Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez (37.1%) also failed to make the cut in their respective second and fourth years of eligibility. Former Boston Red Sox slugger Manny Ramirez received 34.3% of the votes in his ninth year on the ballot.
Dave Parker and Dick Allen earned installation last month in voting through the Classic Baseball Era Committee, which considers retired MLB players no longer eligible for election by the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, in addition to managers, umpires and executives.
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